Risking It All

by SM Koz

• ISBN10: 125031366X
• ISBN13: 9781250313669
• Publish Date: 1 July 2019
• Publish Status: Active
• Out of Print: 4 April 2022
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: St Martin's Press
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 320
• Language: English

Reviews

[Liz (Bent Bookworm)]

~*Check out all my reviews over on The Bent Bookworm!*~

I went into this book with a lot of hope AND a lot of trepidation. As a military veteran from a military family, I've found that it's often really hard for authors without an actual military background (which, it doesn't appear Koz has, I tried to look it up) to realistically portray the environment without being either completely kitschy or derogatory. Risking It All was a pleasant surprise on that front! While the action takes place at a military prep school, not in the military, it was fairly balanced and neutral in attitude. There was no political agenda (either to the left or right).

Paige was awesome - uptight, but awesome. I loved her so much and could totally identify with her attitude and her heart. It IS really hard, especially at that age, to learn to balance career aspirations and relationships. Logan was cute, if kind of hard to sympathize with...he really got himself into his original mess, and let himself be taken advantage of...but then had a giant chip on his shoulder. Eh, puppy love, I suppose. He was adorable AND had amazing guitar skills, so that kind of made up for it.

Overall I gave this book 4/5 stars. Recommended for cute teenage romance and interesting/unusual setting for a YA novel!

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[Sam@WLABB]

Rating: 4.5 Stars

She followed the rules. He colored outside the lines. She was there by choice. He was there as a form of punishment. They seemed like oil and water, but you know what they say about opposites.....

This book was such a fantastic read for me! Once I started, I couldn't stop, because I was just loving being with Paige and Logan so much.

I found the premise fantastic. You have Paige, who was raised by her Navy Seal father, and longed for a military career. She lived strictly by the book, and saw things in black and white. Then, you had Logan. He was a video game playing slacker, who intentionally underperformed. He had no problem breaking a rule, here and there, for the right reasons, and was all about the grey areas.

I absolutely loved these two together! It was such a pleasure watching their hate turn to friendship and, then to more. I thought they had great chemistry, and I also believed they were really good for each other. Paige pushed Logan to use his potential, and also taught him to respect the rules, while Logan helped Paige blur the lines a little, and reach for the things she really wanted. Both these characters were fantastic. It was a pleasure getting to know them, and watching them get to know themselves better.

Can I say, I was a huge fan of the setting, too. Getting to be inside a military academy was quite an experience. I admired the work ethic the these cadets adhered to, and also loved the ceremony of it all. But, it was also about the camaraderie and bonds, that form between the cadets. There was this one scene towards the end of the book, that just earned such a GIANT emotional response from me. It was S T U P E N D O U S!



I believe that everyone within a mile radius heard me applauding that ending. It just left me with such a full heart and in a ridiculously elated state.

This was a fun and delightful story about love, friendship, forgiveness, being true to yourself, and also seeing things in a different light, which left me extremely happy, satisfied, and wanting to read more of Koz's books.

*ARC provided in exchange for an honest review.

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