Title: Outcast
Author: Denise Jaden
Genre: YA Contemporary (with romantic suspense elements)
Publication Date: April 20th, 2018
Hosted by: Lady Amber’s Reivews & PR
She’s not crazy.
Kass Bateman may be a lot of things, but she swears she's not crazy—even when she wakes up strapped to a wheelchair in a psychiatric hospital and can't remember how she got there.
Denise Jaden’s novels have been shortlisted or received awards through the Romance Writers of America, Inspy, and SCBWI. The first draft of her debut novel, Losing Faith, was written in 21 days during NaNoWriMo 2007 and she loves talking with writers and students alike about her Just-Get-To-The-End fast-drafting process.
When Kass's family members go missing one by one, she enlists the smartest guy she knows to help find them. Unfortunately for her, underneath his brains and indifference are some dark secrets and a whole lot of distracting sexy.
Can Kass keep her head together long enough to rescue her family members from their captors—the truly dangerous and crazy ones?
Gritty, steamy, and rife with secrecy, Outcast is the first book in a new upper YA/NA crossover series for fans of Gayle Forman and Rainbow Rowell.
Kass isn't crazy...or is she? Kass wakes up tired to a wheelchair. As her family disappeared one by one (told in memory), she and a boy from school try to find them.
I liked the premise of this book. I really couldn't stop reading to find out what happened. The first in a series, and this book ends with loose ends.
Kass wakes up strapped to a wheelchair. At first, she can't discern what is going on but she knows that this is wrong. That she is not crazy. You see a half-sister, Hope. shows up about their mom missing. Then all of a sudden Kass' dad goes missing. The only person who can help her is Eli.
Outcast by Denise Jaden was interesting and the premise great. Intrigue, a plot that pulls the reader in, suspense, and so much more, however, there were parts that I felt dragged and the end fell flat. Now, this is a book one of a series and there are loose ends that need to be tied up, so the next book should bring more to the table.
People are missing from Kass's life. One by one they are disappearing, but she has to convince everyone that it really is happening and that she isn't crazy. Sounds like a great plot, and it is, but I feel like I needed more. That said, I did have a hard time putting the book down because I wanted to see what happened next. The end felt rushed and I'm going to have to wait until book two to see what happens next. 3.5 stars and I suggest you one click this one today. I will be reading the next book in the series when it comes out.
I liked the premise of this book. I really couldn't stop reading to find out what happened. The first in a series, and this book ends with loose ends.
Can she convince him and her best friend, Liz, that she isn't insane? That something sinister is really taking place?
This was going great until the ending. It felt abrupt and not much on what will happen afterward.
Denise Jaden’s novels have been shortlisted or received awards through the Romance Writers of America, Inspy, and SCBWI. The first draft of her debut novel, Losing Faith, was written in 21 days during NaNoWriMo 2007 and she loves talking with writers and students alike about her Just-Get-To-The-End fast-drafting process.
Author Links:
Amazon: http://amzn.to/2Ge6uID
Twitter: https://twitter.com/denisejaden
Website: https://www.denisejaden.com/
Outcast: http://amzn.to/2Gikqlf
Roadie (Pre-Order): https://amzn.to/2qIiUyJ
His lips kiss me back, angrily. He’s so forceful, it hurts my mouth, but I won’t stop, and I slide my tongue through his lips to shock him. His mouth opens and his tongue reaches for mine, reaches past mine, and I don’t know if it’s angry or…hungry.
I fight for my balance. My hand is still on the back of his head and I grip the ends of his short hair. He moves toward me until I’m backed into the trunk of the nearest tree. The bark scratches through my cotton shirt, but I can barely feel it. The heat of his chest against mine is extraordinary—his hips shift against mine, his lips and tongue and whole face devour my mouth, my face, my ear, my neck.
And the worst part? I don’t want him to stop. I desperately don’t want him to stop.
But I need control here.
My free hand slides around his waist, gripping his shirt. Both of his hands reach into my hair. He grasps it at the roots and lets out a breathy groan as he turns his face to a new angle on my neck. He’s done this before. He’s probably done this many times before. The whole length of his body pushes me harder against the bark of the tree. It’s all I can do to keep breathing, to not slide my hands all over him. I ball my fist behind his head and notice how totally still I’ve become. He’s devouring me and I can’t stop him. I’m his paralyzed prey, and it freaks the shit out of me.
All at once, I pull back, put all my power behind my right arm, and knock my fist into the side of his jaw. Being so close, I hardly have any force behind it, but it still hurts like hell and I shake out my hand angrily.
“What the hell was that?” he says, stumbling back from me, and then leaning forward and cupping his jaw. He clears his throat harshly.
In that second one thing is clear: He still has complete control over himself. He’s not caught up in this at all, though, by the looks of things, I at least put him in a little bit of pain.
He tilts his head up so we can look at each other. Except he doesn’t look at me, and I wonder if that’s another power move. He scowls, looking into the distance like he’s thinking it over and his hand moves from his jaw to his lips. He clears his throat again. It occurs to me maybe that wasn’t his first beer. Maybe he’s messed up. Did he even know what he was doing or how he was talking to me? What do they call it—liquid courage?
Welcome back, Control. Sorry I let you go for a few minutes there, but it won’t happen again.
Eli’s eyes widen, and at first I think I’ve said the words out loud. But his hand moves down to his throat, grips around it, and something looks wrong.
“I didn’t hit you that hard,” I say.
He clears his throat yet again and grips harder like he’s choking.
“Are you…OK?” It’s not like I’ve done a whole lot of drinking or drugs, and I’ve certainly never OD’d or anything, but the dude wasn’t even slurring. I look from side to side, and no one is within yelling distance, especially over the loud music.
Eli’s free hand fumbles to his belt, to that navy blue pencil case. I stand there looking at it. If he wants to show me what kind of drugs he’s on, I still won’t know how to help him.
He fumbles with the zipper, and finally it rips open and a cylinder of some sort springs out into the overgrown grass and oak leaves. He falls to his knees and rummages frantically with his hands.
“What? What do you need?” I yell at him.
He whimpers and says something I can’t hear. I drop down to get closer. “Nuts. Peanuts,” he chokes out, and I can still taste the remnant of my peanut butter cup in the back of my teeth.
I stare at him and all of a sudden the pieces click into place.
No way. Nobody’s this allergic to peanuts. Are they?
