★★★ ½
…and we’re splurging on ridiculously overpriced tea and discussing sudden death.
Unfortunately, the topic is all too relevant at the moment.
Aidan is in New York City for a night (for a heart scan) and after the scan, kicks off his shoes and re-downloads Dirty Paws (aka Grindr).
Nothing good can come from this, but I cobble together a profile…
He matches with a couple of cute boys before visiting one in a hotel room nearby.
Only things don’t go nearly to plan. There’s not a word big enough to encompass how massively wrong things go.
The message says:
May you be in heaven a full half hour before the devil knows you’re dead.
The guy Aidan hooks up with ends up dead (NOT because of Aidan) and someone (someones?) thinks he did it.
With barely another thought, Aidan is on the run – from the terrorists, from the FBI, from that slightly-suspicious and rather cute boy over there – everyone.
But will he be able to get away? Could he run enough? What happens when he can’t take another step?
You could get away with anything.
This one definitely started really well – Aidan is a zany, stream-of-consciousness main character who is thrown into wild, inescapable adventure.
I loved how much tension was present in the book and it was a lot of fun (at first).
However, the book became too much – every corner there was another betrayal, another secret, another mad dash to freedom.
My head began to spin as poor Aidan made yet another circle around New York.
If I’m being totally honest, this reminded me of just…kind of average YA.
The main character has a “perfect” flaw –
That’s my biggest fear, I guess – that I’m a clone; that I’ll never be different; that my whole future is just mapped out for me and I essentially have no free will at all.
and there’s cute boys with dark secrets lurking in every dark alley.
And moral ambiguity. Lots and lots of moral ambiguity.
So it was fun, enjoyable but not particularly life-changing.
With thanks to the author and the publisher for a free copy in exchange for an honest review.
All quotes come from an uncorrected proof and are subject to change upon publication
Interested in this one from Derek Milman? Buy it here: Amazon
Miranda Reads 