Kat Spears

In a hilarious and often poignant debut YA novel, Jesse Alderman—or "Sway," as he's known—avoids emotional connection at all costs, but he's ultimately forced to open his heart when he meets the girl of his dreams.

Sway

Cindy Lee

*A copy was provided by the publisher for an honest review*
Thank you to Raincoast Books!

I think Kat Spears is now on my list of "I will read any books these contemporary authors write". Yep, Sway is that good. It really impressed me.

I think what made this book that amazing was the narrator, Jesse "Sway" Alderman. Jesse is the kid you go if you have any problems. If you owe him a favour or got money to spend, he can anything done for you. He's described by the rumour mill as a very persuasive person. He's a very cynical person and I find that very interesting. He's different from most of those charming or bad boy type guys. Jesse can probably have his own category haha! 

Then Bridget comes along. I finally got to see Jesse crack just a little. Staring as an unemotional guy who doesn't give two sh*ts about anything, he starts to have feelings toward Bridget and that really changes his worldview a lot. Don't worry, though. Jesse is still as sarcastic as ever with his heart softened just a tiny bit. 

There are a lot of book quotes that I loved from this book (this is amazing because I never really mark down quotes). I even wrote a page full of them in my agenda! I'll just choose one that really sums up Jesse's personality:

"Nothing is either good or bad," I said, "but thinking makes it so."
- Sway by Kat Spears (eARC)

Sway by Kat Spears is definitely one of the best contemporaries I've read in a while. Jesse's cynical personality and his tendency to speak the most breaking truths makes him an excellent and refreshing narrator. It was amazing to see how he turned from an uncaring boy broken by an event a year ago to the boy he is at the end. 

Rating: B

b.andherbooks

A modern day Cyrano de Bergerac, but much grittier. Jesse, known as Sway by his 'associates,' lives only to make things happen. He's the guy who'll get you the keg for your party, the answers to your midterm, or the most popular girl to go out with you. Jesse does it all despite the risk, because he just doesn't care. It is all business, especially since the suicide of his mother. And business is good, until a deal to make the beautiful and saintly Bridget date douche-bag Ken makes it seem like Jesse may actually care about something after all.

Cast with a wonderfully diverse set of characters, Sway really won me over. Jesse and his unwilling (but real) friendships with the old Mr. Dunkelman and Bridget's brother who has cerebral palsy just really stood out. The only character who seemed a bit one dimensional was Bridger herself, but the way that relationship played out was just excellent. Highly recommend, especially to guy readers.

Thank you to www.netgalley.com and the publisher for the free copy!

Sway

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