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Book Review: Eyes on Me by Rachel Harris

Mar 19, 2019

Eyes on Me by Rachel Harris

Pages: 310
Publish date: March 26th 2019
Publisher: Entangled Teen
ISBN: 9781640635265
Purchase: Book Depository – Amazon UK – Amazon US – Amazon AU

Look up the word “nerd” and you’ll find Lily Bailey’s picture. She’s got one goal: first stop valedictorian, next stop Harvard. Until a stint in the hospital from too much stress lands her in the last place a klutz like her ever expected to be: salsa dance lessons.

Look up the word “popular” and you’ll find Stone Torres’s picture. His life seems perfect—star of the football team, small-town hero, lots of friends. But his family is struggling to make ends meet, so if pitching in at his mom’s dance studio helps, he’ll do it.

When Lily’s dad offers Stone extra cash to volunteer as Lily’s permanent dance partner, he can’t refuse. But with each dip and turn, each moment her hand is in his, his side job starts to feel all too real. Lily shows Stone he’s more than his impressive football stats, and he introduces her to a world outside of studying. But with the lines blurred, can their relationship survive the secret he’s been hiding?

Eyes on Me:

I received an e-arc of Eyes on Me by Rachel Harris from Entangled Teen via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This has in no way influenced my thoughts and feelings about the book.

I haven’t read a new Rachel Harris is nearly 2 years – what on earth. I can’t believe that it’s been that long. But as soon as I started Eyes on Me, I remembered why I fell in love with her romances, with her stories.

Eyes on Me follows Lily as she tries to navigate her last year at high school. She is so close to becoming valedictorian, but Lily knows that it can slip through her fingers at any time. But after an intense hospital visit, Lily’s father needs her to do something other than studying. So when her Dad signs her up for dancing lessons, Lily isn’t having it. She can’t walk straight, let alone dance. But she knows that it will make him happy.

Stone has a lot going for him, as the star quarterback, and popular kid, you think he was living a teenage dream. But his mother’s dance studio is struggling. So when Lily’s dad offers him extra cash for being Lily’s dance partner as well as keeping her entertained – he really can’t say no. But we all know that this is going to end up a disaster.

Taylor Ann Wright

I have always loved reading Rachel Harris novels, I don’t know what it is. But whenever I pick up one of her books I just fall in love. And I felt the same with Eyes on Me. While it does have a very cliché premise, it still had its unique twist that made me want to keep on reading. Most of the time I really don’t like books that feature dancing, I don’t know what it is. However, it really worked here.

I really enjoyed Lily as a protagonist, she was easy to get along with and I loved getting to know her. At the start of the novel, Lily is very quiet and draw back from others. Focused on becoming valedictorian there is nothing else matters too much. She wants to make her mother proud. I think that is what drove her a lot through Eyes on Me. The reader is able to see that Lily is still grieving her mother’s death and not only that, she misses her.

Lily’s character arc and growth is something that I loved throughout Eyes on Me. The reader is able to see that she not only gains confidence in herself but those around her. She is able to form more friendships and let herself be free in a way. And it wasn’t just through meeting Stone, but through the dancing as well.

Daniel von Appen

Stone was an interesting character as well. While I didn’t like him as much as Lily, I still enjoyed getting to know him. One of the things that I admired about him was the love that he had for his family. Not only for his parents but his sister as well. From the get-go, the reader is able to see who much Stone cares for them all, and he will do anything for them. While Stone had the usual quarterback persona, he was also very sensitive and he danced.

Stone and Lily together were totally adorable. The reader is able to see from the start that they have a connection. This connection becomes stronger as the novel goes on. Through them dancing together and simply having out. I loved that the romance wasn’t too fast, but then again it wasn’t slow. It was kind of the perfect rate for me. What I didn’t like about the romance was how it started. It’s a trope that I don’t particularly like, but I pushed through it. I understand why Stone took the money, but I wish he stopped taking it. Because, in the end, everyone gets hurt.

Grief is something is looked at in YA a lot, but I thought that Rachel Harris did an excellent job at it in Eyes on Me. As I said before dancing in novels aren’t usually something that I like reading about. But I think it really helped the reader understand Lily’s grief.

Simon Maage

In saying all this there were times throughout the novel that I felt like I had read them before. Eyes on Me is very cliché at sometimes that did turn me off. But I was invested in Lily’s story and I wanted to see where it went. I think that sometimes YA contemporary romance can be like that. you kind of know what’s going to happen but you want to read on.

Another thing that I did love about the novel as it looks on female friendship. I think that is something that YA lacks still, but Rachel Harris explored it in such a nice way in Eyes on Me. I liked that the reader is not only able to see old friendships stay strong but, when another girl is added to the mix, it doesn’t break apart. The friendships were very warm and welcoming.

Overall, Eyes on Me by Rachel Harris as a fantastic read. It’s a lighthearted romance novel that explores friendship, new romances, but also looks at grief and learning to overcome it. The writing was easy to read and the romance was just adorable. Rachel Harris has a knack for writing very real characters and she does it yet again in Eyes on Me.

Book Review: Who’s Afraid? by Maria Lewis

Jan 6, 2016

Who’s Afraid?

Pages:238 (Kindle Edition)
Publish date: January 12th 2016
Publisher: Hachette Australia
ISBN: 9780349411149
Purchase: Book Depository – Amazon UK – Amazon US – Amazon AU

Tommi Grayson’s never exactly been a normal girl. Bright blue hair, a mysterious past and barely controlled rage issues have a way of making a woman stand out. Yet she’s never come close to guessing who she really is . . .

When her mother dies, a shattered Tommi decides to track down her estranged father. Leaving Scotland for a remote corner of New Zealand, she discovers the truth of her heritage – and it’s a whole lot more than merely human.

Barely escaping with her life, now Tommi must return to her friends, pretending everything is normal, while all too aware of the dangers lurking outside – and within. Worse still, something has followed her home . . .

With the clock ticking, can Tommi learn to control her new powers in time to save the ones she loves?

Who’s Afraid?:

I received an e-arc of Who’s Afraid? by Maria Lewis from Hachette Australia via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This has in no way included my thoughts and feelings about the book.

I was surprised with this book. I thought it was going to young adult by the synopsis, but it’s not, defiantly not. Once you start reading, you realise that it’s not actually for anyone under the age of 16 at the least. In saying that I did enjoy the book.

Who’s Afraid? follows protagonist, Tommi who is stubborn, sarcastic, troublesome however also slightly breakable. After her mother’s death, she travels to New Zealand to find out more about her father and instead find that’s she comes from a line of very powerful and dangerous werewolves and well that she is a werewolf herself.

As she struggles with her new self, she finds out the world she knew wasn’t as it seemed and that her life wasn’t sunshine and daisies.

I am not too sure how I feel about Who’s Afraid? I enjoyed it, it was a good read, but I didn’t love it. I enjoyed the writing style on the other hand I didn’t love how it was changing perspectives. It went from first person to third back to first, I wouldn’t have a problem with it, if I knew that it was happening. I could be reading a scene in first person and then it changed to third person and it confused me.

I actually enjoyed the plot, it was engaging and interesting. There was many twists and turns and things happened that I wasn’t expecting at all. It was a ‘real’ book, nothing was hidden. Gruesome, hideous things happened.

Tommi is one strong girl. She has gone through hell and back. Having to deal with the death of her mother was hard enough, but then she finds out that comes from a powerful line of werewolves, everything else seems to fall apart.

Then there is her dark and mysterious guardian who also happens to be very attractive. Lorcan MacCarthy. He is pretty amazing and perfect to Tommi’s outgoing nature. He is calm, but fierce that fights with swords.

The world building in Who’s Afraid? was well written. It was well thought out and it kept on drawing me in. especially with the Praetorian Guard. It was something different and very fascinating. There was a lot going on and somethings that was a bit heavy, it was overwhelming, trying to remember everything and everyone.

I liked the writing style of Maria Lewis, it was engaging and easy to read. There were certain words that were hard to pronounce, but that was easy to go over. Lewis keeps the reader captivated until the end, she makes the reader go in circles.

Who’s Afraid is not for the faint hearted, it’s gruesome and there are deaths all over the place, but it’s an enthralling unban fantasy novel that takes you on a flight of the supernatural, death and romance.

Overall, I really enjoyed Who’s Afraid? It was something different from what I have read before. I am used to Fantasy in Young Adult, this is one of the New Adult novels that I have read that isn’t contemporary. I truly enjoyed and cannot wait to read the rest of the books in the series.