What a Boy Needs - Review

Title: What a Boy Needs

Author: Nyrae Dawn

Release Date: June, 2012

Format: ebook

Publisher: Self-Published - Amazon Digital Services

Purchased: Amazon

Synopsis:  

A companion novel to WHAT A BOY WANTS.

Jaden Sinclair knows he'll never amount to anything...so why would he deserve a girl like Priscilla Mendoza?

Since last summer, things have been screwed up between Jaden and Pris. He knows it's his fault, but that doesn’t stop him from wanting to go a few rounds with her new boyfriend. He also knows he’s the loser his dad calls him, but it doesn’t stop him from wanting her.

After getting a huge bomb dropped on him, Jaden lashes out and lands himself in jail. Everything in his chaotic life is turned upside down and to make it worse, his mom kicks him out in order to side with his dad. Yeah, he’s totally a prize for a girl like Pris.

Sebastian, Aspen, and Pris are all going places in their lives...and he knows he can't keep tagging along for the ride.

The group has one last chance for The Epic Adventure they've been looking for: a road trip to New York, where Jaden's friends will be going to college. Unfortunately, the more time Jaden hangs around Pris, the harder it is to keep the carefully constructed walls between them so she doesn't find out what a train wreck he really is.

When the trip ends, Jaden has to decide if he's ready to say goodbye to his friends, and the girl he loves. He knows what he needs, but will he be man enough to go for it?

Contains mature themes. Some sexual situations and language. (From GOODREADS)

Expectation: I had a high expectation for this novel. I had recently read the companion novel, What a Boy Wants. I loved it and expected no less from this novel.

Market/Genre: Young Adult/Romance, Contemporary

Review:

Favourite Quotes:

‘…everyone is moving on—going toward something, and I keep slipping farther behind.’ ~ Jaden Sinclair (Nyrae Dawn, What a Boy Needs)

‘I was never really happy here. I never felt like it was mine, but it almost feels as though I’m trying to get into a foreign country without my passport. I made it over the border, but I’m prepared to get kicked out at any moment.’ ~ Jaden Sinclair (Nyrae Dawn, What a Boy Needs)

I wasn’t quite sure that What a Boy Needs could top What a Boy Wants…or even come close to the likeability factor of Nyrae Dawn’s first book in this ‘series’. I went in to What a Boy Needs hoping for more of the same. Did Dawn deliver?

In spades! Not only did she give her readers more of the same 4 wonderful characters she introduced us to in What a Boy Wants, but she gave us a depth in these characters that was SO much richer than revealed to us in the first book. The first book was great…it was a fun read with a wonderful lead character. We all really dug Sebastian…went along for the ride he set out for us. So, when I say that Jaden really blew me away, I don’t really want to take away from Sebastian’s story in any way.

Jaden Sinclair is a complicated character. Where Sebastian gave us a bit of a thrill ride with his loveable hi-jinx, Jaden gives us an emotional ride. Jaden is broken. Part of his problem is trying to represent himself as present and intact. The reader realizes right away that trouble boils under Jaden’s carefully chosen façade. His parents are against him—one is bitter of his existence while the other is resentful of it. He sees his three closest friends—Sebastian, Aspen and Pris—on the verge of escaping their town, while he is simultaneously coming to the conclusion that the plan the four set out to achieve couldn’t possibly include him when the time comes to actually put it into action. Add the fact that he is falling in love with Pris, and you have a collision course of emotions that is bound to erupt and end badly.

In order to save himself, Jaden must trust those closest to him with the real Jaden Sinclair—the boy his best friends don’t even know about. The complicated boy who doesn’t feel loved in any way. The reader wants to push him to come clean. We have been with these four friends for a while now. We know Sebastian, Aspen and Pris will do right by him. It’s a bit frustrating for the reader that he just won’t take that plunge. But also understandable. He’s a hurting unit. Vulnerable and broken.

We can palpably feel Jaden’s pain when, at one point in his own frustration, he says to himself, ‘Say it, Jay. Open your mouth and talk to her!’

It was so easy to slip back into reading these characters. Dawn has stayed true to all of them, while at the same time giving her readers a deeper, more meaningful glimpse into each of them. Jaden makes for a superb narrator—just as fabulous as Sebastian, but in a much different way. The second quote above captures Jaden so perfectly: “I’m prepared to get kicked out at any moment”. This is Jaden in a nutshell…the true undisguised Jaden. Buckle yourself in for an emotional rollercoaster that still has the elements of fun that you loved in What a Boy Wants. When the foursome deal with the issues burdening Jaden, they grow up a little. They learn to appreciate each other more. And they take the readers along with them.

This is a must read. If you haven’t read What a Boy Wants yet, you have a real treat ahead of you when you read both novels side by side. See what everybody is talking about. Discover What a Boy Wants and What a Boy Needs. You’ll understand why the name Nyrae Dawn is generating such a buzz.

You'll keep reading What a Boy Wants to find out if Sebastian gets the girl. With What a Boy Needs, there is so much more at stake. Sure, you'll read it to find out if Jaden gets his girl...but you'll also read it to find out if he gets his life. Enjoy them both!

Expectation: This book rocked. I was nervous about it…knowing how much I liked the first book, I set a high expectation on this one. We all know what can happen with Part 2s. I was NOT disappointed! Another win for Nyrae Dawn.

Size: 5 (1/2)

MY REVIEW FOR WHAT A BOY WANTS

What a Boy Wants on Amazon