Review: Long Way Home by Katie McGarry

Long Way Home

Katie McGarry

(Thunder Road #3)

Publication Date: January 31, 2017

Hardcover, 448 pages, Harlequin Teen

Genres: YA, Contemporary

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Seventeen-year-old Violet has always been expected to sit back and let the boys do all the saving.

It’s the code her father, a member of the Reign of Terror motorcycle club, raised her to live by. Yet when her dad is killed carrying out Terror business, Violet knows it’s up to her to do the saving. To protect herself, and her vulnerable younger brother, she needs to cut all ties with the club—including Chevy, the boy she’s known and loved her whole life.

But when a rival club comes after Violet, exposing old secrets and making new threats, she’s forced to question what she thought she knew about her father, the Reign of Terror, and what she thinks she wants. Which means re-evaluating everything: love, family, friends . . . and forgiveness.

Caught in the crosshairs between loyalty and freedom, Violet must decide whether old friends can be trusted—and if she’s strong enough to be the one person to save them all.

My Review

I know I’ve said this before, but if you like Sons of Anarchy and YA contemporary romance, you’ll love Katie McGarry’s Thunder Road books. The main character is strong, the guy is swoon worthy, and the plot is intense.

Since this is the third book in a companion series, the story follows two characters that were introduced in books one and two. Violet wants nothing to do with her pseudo family’s motorcycle club, while Chevy doesn’t know what he wants. All of that becomes irrelevant, though, once a rival motorcycle gang becomes involved in Violet and Chevy’s lives.

Okay, so the main reason I enjoyed Violet’s character so much in the first half of the book was how adamant she was about how ridiculous the motorcycle club is sometimes. The macho rules the club puts in place seriously irk me, so Violet raging against them had me very much on board; however, she seemed to lose her spirit towards the end. I’m not sure how I felt about that because the semi-cult-like lifestyle the motorcycle club portrays always bothers me. Chevy, on the other hand, was a perfect mess. He doesn’t know what he wants to do with his life, and he accepts that.

As for the plot of the story, it was definitely a quick-paced read. I read and finished this book in less than 24 hours. The storyline starts out with a major bang, and it keeps up a solid stride along the way. I do wish that the action could have continued farther in the book, rather than fizzle to a more angsty level, though. I guess that’s why it’s a contemporary romance, not a contemporary action story. *sigh*

All in all, Long Way Home is a good possible ending (Are there going to be more books, Katie?) to a fun, if sometimes frustrating, series. There are motorcycles, cute boys, and crazy plotlines to keep readers’ noses stuck in this book.

*Note: I borrowed a copy of this book from my local library. This in no way affected my opinion/review.