On the first day of Lillian’s summer-before-college, she gets a message on her cell from her sort-of friend, Penny. Not only has Penny faked her own kidnapping, but Lil is the only one who figures it out. She knows that Penny’s home life has been rough, and that her boyfriend may be abusive. Soon, Penny’s family, the local police, and even the FBI are grilling Lil, and she decides to head out to Oregon, where Penny has mentioned an acquaintance. And who better to road-trip across the country with than Lil’s BFF, Josh. But here’s the thing: Lil loves Josh. And Josh doesn’t want to “ruin” their amazing friendship.After my senior year I took the "road trip" that Lil & Josh took so this was fun to read. (Although my trip was with family and lasted full 7 weeks). As they described the places they were visiting I kept thinking - been there, done that!
Josh has a car and his dad’s credit card. Lil has her cellphone and a hunch about where Penny is hiding. There’s something else she needs to find: Are she and Josh meant to be together?
Don't Stop Now was a fun, quick read that I really enjoyed. I liked the characters and found myself thinking about them when I was done reading. With as crazy as my life has been it's been hard to find the desire or time to read, but this book hooked me and I want to know how the story ended so I spent a morning reading it.
My only complaint is that the ending was just too easy. I'm a believer in fate and coincidence but I couldn't really buy how easily things all worked out - I've been to Portland and it's a big city - it just didn't seem plausible to me. That said it was a fun enough read that I let myself suspend my disbelief enough to enjoy the ride.
Content - language especially at the start of the book, implied teen sex but no details, abuse but again no details
Source - From author for review as part of The Teen Book Scene Blog Tour
For all the tour stops please visit The Teen Book Scene
3 Comments on Blog Tour: Book Review - Don't Stop Now by Julie Halpern, last added: 6/14/2011
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Great review! Gotta pick this book up soon. I love books about road trips.
I love when I find myself thinking about the characters. It means that the book is great and engaging.
Great review
Olfa
I've been seeing a lot of buzz for this book and now I'm ready to go on a roadtrip!