Monday, August 10, 2015

Sweet by Emmy Laybourne

Sweet by Emmy Laybourne
Source: Library
Pages: 288
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Release Date: June 2nd 2015
Series: Sweet; Book 1
Verdict: Borrow

SummaryEmmy Laybourne, author of the Monument 14 trilogy, takes readers on a dream vacation that goes first comically, then tragically, then horrifyingly wrong!

The luxurious celebrity cruise launching the trendy new diet sweetener Solu should be the vacation of a lifetime. But Laurel is starting to regret accepting her friend Viv’s invitation. She's already completely embarrassed herself in front of celebrity host Tom Forelli—the hottest guy ever!—and she's too sick to even try the sweetener. And that's before Viv and all the other passengers start acting really strange.

Tom knows that he should be grateful for this job and the chance to shed his former-child-star image. His publicists have even set up a 'romance' with a sexy reality star. But as things on the ship start to get wild, he finds himself drawn to a different girl. And when the hosting gig turns into an expose on the shocking side effects of Solu, it's Laurel that he's determined to save.

Review: I've had my eye on this book for quite some time, and I'm glad to have read it. It was... interesting. I was extremely surprised by the creep factor included. Some people would do anything in order to alter their body image, and this book demonstrates how extreme it can get. Of course, what happens here is something that most likely (hopefully!) won't happen in reality.

Sweet is the complete opposite of sweet. It begins in a calm manner, but it quickly escalates. But going into this book, I already knew that it would be different and extreme due to the subject manner. What I didn't expect was how tragic and deadly and scary it would become. 

Laurel is an incredibly sweet character. She's only on this trip because her best friend begged her to join in on the Solu fun. Yet, Laurel doesn't buy into the diet sweetener, since she's happy with how she is. She's calm and goofy and fun. 

And then there's Tom Forelli, cute guy extraordinaire. He takes an instant liking to Laurel, who has had a crush on him since he was a child star, and does everything to gain her attention. It's really quite endearing. He also doesn't take the sweetener because of the wariness of new things and side effects. Turned out to be the smartest decisions anyone could make.

Viv, Laurel's best friend, was sweet and innocent and just a girl who was insecure. It's hard for me to comment on her character because of everything that happens. Like everyone else who consumed Solu, things get out of control and terrifying.

There were so many twists and turns, and I was shocked by how evil, crazy, and dangerous everything got. I found myself disgusted by many of the events that took place, and I honestly would have liked this book more without all the gruesomeness of the Solu aftermath. It was truly disturbing and cringe-worthy.

Sweet tackles body image and the extremes people go to because of it. However, while I found this book to be unique and interesting, I'm just not a fan of how things went down. It ended on an odd, cliffhanger-y note, and I'm curious to see what happens next. That being said, I'm not so curious that I need-to-want-to-have-to know immediately. I honestly may even skip the next book, but we'll see how things go. Either way, things turned out to be not so sweet after all...


Eh, it was alright

2 comments:

  1. I was not particularly impressed with this book! I think I gave it two stars or thereabout. It was weird, wasn't it? The ending was so abrupt -_- Anyway, I'm glad I'm not alone in opinion! Excellent review, Grace :)

    Alyssa @ The Eater of Books!

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    1. Yes, it was extremely weird, and I agree about the ending. It was just odd in too many ways and I don't think I'll be venturing further in this particular adventure.

      Thank you, Alyssa!

      -Grace :)

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