Book Review: Rev Girl by Leigh Hutton
Rev Girl by Leigh Hutton
Pages: 288 (paperback)
Publish date: May 24th 2014
Publisher: Leigh Hutton Books, distributed by Dennis Jones & Associates
ISBN: 0992495601
Purchase: Amazon UK – Amazon US – Amazon AU
Inspired by a true story
It’s hard to be the new girl, but it’s even harder being the new girl who races dirt bikes . . .
Ever since her parents forced her to move from Canada to Silvertown, Colorado, Clover Kassedy hasn’t fit in. So how do you deal when everyone hates you?
Focusing all her energy on racing her motorcycle did it for a while, but now that Clover’s managed to find a bestie and a boyfriend, the pressure on the sixteen-year-old is worse than ever.
She’s determined to get to the World Championships, where she could finally meet her idol – an Australian, the World Champion – and have a shot at becoming a professional dirt bike racer. But with her super- competitive dad, workaholic mother and relentless bullies at races and at high school, Clover is struggling to make her dreams a reality.
Will it be her scheming ex-best-friend who shatters her world? Or will she let her ‘perfect’ boyfriend – the guy who has finally made her feel like she belongs in their school and their town – stop her from becoming an international racing star?
Rev Girl:
I received a review copy of Rev Girl from Leigh Hutton. This in no way influenced in my review.
I have very mixed feelings about Rev Girl. I enjoyed it, but a lot of things really did get on my nerves.
I liked the story line and the premise. It was interesting and took me by surprise. I didn’t know too much about dirt bike racing, but I do enjoying ‘watching’ it and all so it was different and really enjoyable.
It was interesting hearing about the world of motorbike racing from a racer’s point of view, especially as it was a girl. I loved it.
Clover Kassedy is a fascinating protagonist. Like the novel itself, I have mixed feelings about her. She was enjoyable to read about and the way she spoke of racing was interesting. It really brought me into the novel, but I felt that her feelings took Rev Girl to a new levelbut not in a good way. I think it really overpowered the story.
I felt the romance was so rushed. It felt like insta-love to me and, if you know me, well, you know how much I dislike it with a passion. The romance between Clover and Dallas it made me feel so frustrated. It felt so forced and so rushed. I understand that the book did take place over a time period, but I felt there was no sense of a relationship between Clover and Dallas. It just moved from them getting together to so much more.
I also thought that the characters ‘felt’ too young to be doing what they were doing. They might have been older, but the way that Clover talked and thought, as well as the other characters, they just felt so young.
The family situation: Good family relationships and I never seem to be together and_Rev Girl was no different. Clovers father was a so-so father. Yes, he was really supportive of her. It was really nice reading about it, but then he could get very overprotective at times and overprotective parents and I don’t mix. It was really annoying at times and did really hit my nerves.
Clover’s mother, wow, okay, I didn’t like her one bit. She was annoying and unsupportive. She didn’t care one bit for Clover’s career. Maybe deep down she cared about her safety, but I think for the most point she just didn’t care. Clover’s sister, hmm, I don’t have that much to say about her as she wasn’t really that much present in the book but from when she was present I don’t think she like her mother, cared much for Clover in some way.
I adored all the racing scenes and the places she went to race and all. It was exciting and interesting reading all about it. Experiencing in some way how these events work. It was really nice seeing people from all the around the world coming together for these comps and it was great of Leigh Hutton to incorporate all types of nationalities into Rev Girl.
Leigh has a talent for making the reader be captured in their imagination. I was able to imagine scenes, accents, and how people looked. It was different and refreshing.
Another thing that I liked about Rev Girl was that we got to experience Clover grow from someone that was dependent on her friends, boyfriend, and everyone around her to an independent girl, really starting to become a women. It was insightful and really lifted the ending.
Overall the book was okay. It wasn’t the best and it wasn’t the worse, just somewhere in between. I am not too sure if I will read the rest of the series, but maybe when they come out I will give them a try.
Hope you enjoyed this review and many more to come. Have you read Rev Girl? What did you think of it? Will you read it?
