24.9.12

Review: Another Life (When I Was Joe, #3) by Keren David

Summary/Cover Image from Amazon
Kicked out of yet another boarding school, Archie couldn't be happier to find himself back in London with old friends and an exciting social life. But he's worried about his cousin Ty, who is facing a sentence in a Young Offender Institution and doesn't seem to be coping. And he's finding that his old friends have moved on and it's a struggle to keep up with their new lives. When he begins to learn surprising things about Ty, Archie goes on a mission to discover the truth about his cousin's past. But who is the real Ty? The thrilling follow-up to When I Was Joe and Almost True takes readers on a terrifying adventure through London's gangland.
Review:

I read Keren David's first book, When I Was Joe, all the way back in Fall 2010. While it wasn't my favorite book ever, it was still an enjoyable and heart racing read. Therefore, when I was offered the chance to read anther addition in the Joe saga this time with Another Life, I jumped at the chance. It sounded like a solid read, and while I hadn't read the second book yet, I figured I would have no problem jumping right back into the series. Luckily, I didn't, and boy, was I surprised, as not only was Another Life a thrilling conclusion to the When I Was Joe trilogy, but it offered up interesting new characters and plenty of additions to the story I never saw coming! Basically, I was completely awed by the story Keren David had cooked up.

With Almost True, Keren David introduced a new point of view with the addition of Archie, Ty's cousin. From the get-go, I was excited to see how Keren would create Archie's character as well as how she would use him to advance the plot. Archie was a great addition for sure. It was fun to see how he perceived Ty and his past actions as well as to see how much trouble he would get in just to help Ty. Archie did get in some stupid situations at times, and while I couldn't help but shake my head, it lead for a lot of development in Archie as the story continued. It was also a ton of fun to get into Ty's head again. In this book, he's facing his biggest challenge yet: jail. In jail, he really reaches his breaking point, and my heart truly broke for him at the points where he sunk the lowest, but I was always rooting him on, hoping just maybe he would get his happy ending. I also enjoyed the various side characters such as Patrick, Ty's dad, and Archie's parents/friends. All added great little parts to the story.

The plot in this was fact paced and exciting from the get. Keren David really stepped it up from When I Was Joe to tell the truth, because while they were several moments in Where I Was Joe that I skimmed and flipped through, those moments were far in between in Another Life. The switching POVs really worked wonders...Keren always switched at such pivotal moments where I was like "WHAT JUST HAPPENED?!". Plus the twists/turns in this were KILLER. I don't want to give anything way, but let's just say some pretty interesting characters from the past make an appearance.

Keren's writing was also whip tight in this one. She did a great job with character and plot development, and I really enjoyed the final ending she offered in this one. It wasn't an overly happy one, but it provided some bittersweet closure that I feel any reader will like.

In all, Another Life by Keren David was a thrilling and suspenseful conclusion to the trilogy. I highly suggest this one to any reader (girls and especially boys) who enjoy suspenseful reads. Oh, and I can't wait to give the second book a spin and see what I missed exactly. :) 

Grade: B+  

Another Life (Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Goodreads) is now out! 

Source: Publicist 

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