Made for You

Made for You by Melissa Marr

ISBN 10: 0062011197

ISBN 13: 9780062011190

Publication Date: 16 Sept 2014 by HarperCollins

Category: Young Adult Contemporary Fiction

Keywords: Southern, Thriller, Obsession

Format: Hardcover, eBook, Audio

Source: ARC from Publisher

Eva Tilling is high school royalty. It might not matter in your high school, but in Eva's town, family connections and high society matter greatly. She has the perfect boyfriend and is adored by her friends. So she is clueless why someone would hit her with their car. It must be an accident, right?

There is some great things about this book. Eva for one. She's popular but not mean. She knows she's well respected and liked, mostly because of her family's high social standing, but that doesn't make her a bad girl. She's nice to everyone and although she feels sometimes detached from her friends, she is a good person and truly cannot imagine someone wanting to kill her. As the story progresses, Eva becomes even more likeable. She stands up to her dumb boyfriend, she goes after what she wants, and really comes into her own.

The book is told from multiple perspectives. I really liked Grace's voice. She's Eva's best friend and it's refreshing to see someone so strong minded. Also, she's a diverse character! (yay!) Grace is not your average best friend side kick. Sure, she has a strong personality, but she doesn't fall into the realm of the funny best friend. She's more of a mature, level headed, I don't take this crap kind of girl. She's the voice of reason and it was a welcome break to see how she saw this little society, from an outsider looking in.

The other point of view is Judge who is Eva's stalker. His voice is menacing, troubled and very dark. The scariest part about Judge is that he continually justifies his actions, making everything seem like it's totally reasonable to behave the way he is behaving. Psycho.

It's Marr's first contemporary fiction book but if I'm honest, I have to say that the magic is missing. The suspense and thrills seem artificial and even though I like Eva and Grace, I wasn't glued to my seat wondering what happened. Also, there's a bit of romance in there with a kid that's out of their social circle. While Nate is supposed to be dreamy, I found him to be kinda boring and vanilla. The plot was supposed to keep me on the edge of my seat, but I wasn't enthralled.

Bravo to Marr for addressing teenagers and sex. There is some sex in the book and the topic is handled delicately and well. I really appreciated how the characters spoke and viewed sex. It was very believable.

I think fans of Lisa McMann and Gretchen McNeil will enjoy this thriller. It's in a similar vein and many readers will like the anxious tone and danger.

For me though, I think I'll go back and read the Wicked Lovely series again.

I received this book for free from HarperCollins for review purposes.