Review: Never Apart by Romily Bernard

NEVER APART

Author: Romily Bernard

Series: -

Release date: 3^rd October 2017

Publisher / Source: Entangled Teen

Pages: 400

Young Adult Fiction

Synopsis (Goodreads) How many times would you die for love?

What if you had to relive the same five days over and over?

And what if at the end of it, your boyfriend is killed…

And you have to watch. Every time.

You don’t know why you’re stuck in this nightmare.

But you do know that these are the rules you now live by:

Wake Up.

Run.

Die.

Repeat.

Now, the only way to escape this loop is to attempt something crazy. Something dangerous. Something completely unexpected. This time…you’re not going to run.

Combining heart-pounding romance and a thrilling mystery Never Apart is a stunning story you won’t soon forget.

Review: 4 out of 5 stars

Never Apart was a fascinating quick read for me as I was eager to find out what was going on! With twists and turns aplenty, I found this book to be completely captivating.

Our MC’s are Grace and her boyfriend Ander who die on repeat every five days, trapped in an alternate reality they wake, they run and they die always at the hands of their former friend, Finn. They fall in to a parallel world with the same outcome every time but the difference is they come back a different version of themselves.

In their latest fall, things are different, Ander hasn’t found Grace and her twin Jem, who has been absent in the other falls is again with the family; things have never changed so it has left them confused. In every alternate reality they try to work out a way to change the end result but they have never succeeded, I don’t want to reveal too much to avoid spoilers but it was a thrilling mystery that was done very well and kept me engrossed from the very first page.

All of the characters were written well and played a pivotal role in the overall story, Grace was such a ‘real’, likeable character. I adored her! She is a shy girl with anxiety and she was extremely relatable. Ander is a character with a lot of issues, he was my least favourite, Finn was wonderful! He had the most depth and despite not instantly liking him by the end of it all, I loved him and his sense of humour.

Never Apart is wonderfully written with a superb premise and fascinating characters, and an alternating now and then timeline which I don’t tend to enjoy but it worked well for this book.

I can’t fault Romily Bernard's writing and her creative, imaginative story-line, it was a fast paced read that really left me surprised at the end of it all, it was wonderfully executed. My only problem with this book was I didn’t find the ‘then’ sections as engrossing as the ‘now but I still enjoyed it for the most part.

Thank you to Entangled Teen via NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review Never Apart.

ARC Review: Find Me by Romily Bernard

Find Me

Author: Romily Bernard

Series: -

Genre: Young Adult

Pages: 288

Publisher: Harper Teen

Puchase: Amazon : TBD

Release Date: 24th September 2013

Synopsis. (Goodreads)

"Find Me." These are the words written on Tessa Waye's diary. The diary that ends up with Wick Tate. But Tessa's just been found...dead.

Wick has the right computer-hacking skills for the job, but little interest in this perverse game of hide-and-seek. Until her sister Lily is the next target. Then Griff, trailer-park boy next door and fellow hacker, shows up, intent on helping Wick.

Is a happy ending possible with the threat of Wick's deadbeat dad returning, the detective hunting him sniffing around Wick instead, and a killer taunting her at every step?

Foster child. Daughter of a felon. Loner hacker girl. Wick has a bad attitude and sarcasm to spare.

But she's going to find this killer no matter what.

Because it just got personal.

Reviews: 3 1/2 out of 5 Stars

I was initially drawn to Find Me from the wonderful cover and intriguing synopsis, I love a good thriller/mystery and this seemed to be just the type of book I needed at this moment.

Computer hacker Wick Tate is a foster child living with her sister after the death of her mother and imprisonment of her criminal father. Now on the run after escaping prison, Wick fears his return and never really settles with her foster family despite their efforts to include and accept her.

Wick was witty and sarcastic and someone I felt quite sorry for; she was a loner with a past that was really quite sad and never really trusted anyone, I loved how caring she was towards her sister Lily and vice versa, she was a likeable character despite her wariness.

When Tessa Waye, Wick’s former friends diary lands on her doorstep with the words ‘Find Me’ written inside, she decides to investigate her death and comes to the realisation she was actually murdered rather than what was a believed suicide and with her superior hacking skills slowly draws out not only the person who left her the diary but also the killer and realises she may be in over her head when this person sets their sights on her sister.

Helping Wick is Griff, a fellow hacker who I quite liked but we don’t really find out too much about him and his attraction to Wick; it’s just sort of there as was their new relationship but it’s definitely not at the forefront of the story.

Find Me was such a thrilling story that was mysterious, dark and had a sinister feel that kept me on the edge of my seat wanting to know what was going to happen next and guessing who the person was behind Tessa's death; I made a few guesstimates but oh boy was I wrong! the pacing for me was initially slow but around the half way mark it gained momentum and kept me riveted, the action sequences at the end really kept me flipping through the pages.

Unfortunately for me there were a number of things which were difficult to believe or grasp such as the police involvement and their treatment of Wick, based on past history I wouldn’t have had faith in them as well, but I was also confused as to why she didn’t entrust an adult be it her foster parents or a teacher not only with Tessa’s diary but also with the work her father and his cronies were involving her with; I know it was difficult for her to rely on others but what she was doing and the trouble it could bring just didn’t sit right with me.

I did like Ms. Bernards detailed writing style which flowed well and kept me engaged and despite the few small issues I had with it, it was an enjoyable and entertaining read - the twist we are given was definitely not what I was expecting.

Overall, Find Me was filled with suspense, intrigue and likeable characters. It was a page turner which kept me wanting more.

Thank-you kindly to Harper Teen for the opportunity to read and review Find Me.

About the author: Romily Bernard graduated from Georgia State University with a Literature degree. Since then, she’s worked as a riding instructor, cell phone salesgirl, personal assistant, groom, exercise rider, accounting assistant, and, during a very dark time, customer service rep.

So don’t let anyone tell you a BA degree will keep you unemployed.

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