Leah
Written on Aug 30, 2009
The story is of Daisy, whom we have met before in Johnny Be Good, but she was in a different guise. She is a front-of-house girl for an F1 team and gets to travel the world for free. Trouble is she isn’t totally over her famous ex, who broke her heart, and she’s just fallen head over heels in love with someone else… someone who puts his life on the line every time he goes to work – an F1 driver.
When I read Chasing Daisy was set in the world of F1 I was so excited to read it. I LOVE Formula One. (A Fernando Alonso fan who likes Seb Vettel but also doesn’t mind Button, if you’re asking). So I was hopeful this novel would give some insight to the world of Formula One and it does, brilliantly, and I loved it.
I loved Daisy. From her opening scenes where she’s swearing in Italian I just knew she was going to be a brilliant character and she doesn’t disappoint. She has many secrets which we learn throughout the novel which helps with her character (as well as answering questions from Johnny Be Good) and makes her likeable.
I have to admit I didn’t warm to Will at first, the guy Daisy falls hopelessly in love with, but as Daisy and he got chatting more I found him an OK character. I loved Luis, from his opening exchange with Daisy to the very end, I couldn’t wait for the scenes between him and Daisy. As Daisy’s Nonna said, I though Luis better suited her than Will… I won’t tell you who Daisy does eventually end up in I’ll only say it’s a corker!
I really liked Holly, Daisy’s best friend. I admit, I guessed her secret before Paige told us! I also liked all of the minor characters, the mechanics, Frederick, Holly’s boss, Simon, the team boss… I didn’t like Daisy’s mum and dad much, I found her dad too overbearing! I loved Nonna, Daisy’s grandma, she was a lovely character
From the beginning I knew we would have lots of twists and turns. But boy, one of the twists – the most important one, at that – shocked me completely. Talk about a plot twist. I can’t even mention it because it’ll spoil the ending for everyone. Believe me when I say: You will NOT see this coming.
I don’t know how Paige does it but she just keeps making her novels better and better. She also manages to bring in her older characters. Johnny, Meg and Christian have a small cameo and the twist at the end of Johnny Be Good is answered.
Chasing Daisy was a brilliant read. It was easy to get into it and easy to just keep reading another page. I started it last night and when I looked down I was on page 50. The cover, as always, is also gorgeous!
If you haven’t read a Paige Toon novel, then you really should.
Many thanks go to the publishers Simon & Schuster for sending us a review copy!
Rating: 5/5