ARC Review: Sway - Kat Spears

Sway
Kat Spears
Series: N/A
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary
Release Date: September 16, 2014
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Word Rating: Surprisingly Delightful
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Thanks to St. Martin's Griffin for providing a review copy at Book Expo America!

The blurb and cover of this book simply do not do it justice. I was expecting a romance-y frilly fluffy book, because books with covers like these give me a story from a girl's point of view of a boy that flirts with a girl and basically passes her off to another boy while being in love with her the whole time. The book I imagined, as I am sure anyone who looks at this book might imagine, was an angsty teen drama. Congrats to Kat Spears for writing one of the most honest PoV's of a teenage boy I have ever seen, and for throwing me headfirst into a story that I would've never expected.

Jesse Alderman is totally hot, charming, and is everyone's go-to fixer upper. Need weed? Need an essay written for you? Need cocaine, alcohol, revenge, or a girlfriend? Sway is your man. He is such an original character, and his PoV is literally so open and blunt. Jesse admits to his problems and it's obvious that he's a power player, but he keeps his calm and because our author is great at writing character development, we get to see more and more of him as the book continues. Jesse hates showing weakness, is actually a little bit of a softie, and loves to take care of people.

I'm having a hard time expressing exactly how I feel about this book because it was just so surprising, but good at the same time, and every detail I relinquish about it feels like a betrayal of that surprise. I just want to say that I love Jesse's voice and the way Spears writes. The language is so true to that of a teenage guy's, and most authors don't do a great job of capturing the teen male lead's voice: so impressed by the writing and characterization of Jesse.

The plot of the book is honestly not at all centered around the romance, which is played up in the blurb and on the cover, but instead on friendship and growing as a person. I have so much to say about this but to be quite honest, it feels like a betrayal of the story to give away what happens, even in the beginning. I'd suggest reading the book immediately and allowing yourself to be immersed in the fantastic writing and incredibly interesting plot.

Moral of the story, go read this book because the words I have do not do it justice, nor can I say much more about this without spoiling literally everything that makes this book so unique and awesome.

- Amrutha

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