Joyride by Anna Banks

Genres: Romance, Contemporary, Young Adult

Release Date: June 2nd, 2015
Publisher: Fewiel & Friends
Source: ARC from Publisher

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A popular guy and a shy girl with a secret become unlikely accomplices for midnight pranking, and are soon in over their heads—with the law and with each other—in this sparkling standalone from NYT-bestselling author Anna Banks.

It’s been years since Carly Vega’s parents were deported. She lives with her brother, studies hard, and works at a convenience store to contribute to getting her parents back from Mexico.

Arden Moss used to be the star quarterback at school. He dated popular blondes and had fun with his older sister, Amber. But now Amber’s dead, and Arden blames his father, the town sheriff who wouldn’t acknowledge Amber's mental illness. Arden refuses to fulfill whatever his conservative father expects.

All Carly wants is to stay under the radar and do what her family expects. All Arden wants is to NOT do what his family expects. When their paths cross, they each realize they’ve been living according to others. Carly and Arden’s journey toward their true hearts—and one another—is funny, romantic, and sometimes harsh.

It's been SO SO long since I felt this bothered by a book. 2015 seemed to be a good year for me book wise and then this book came along. I think this is my first DNF of the year?

Now I don't usually get ranty but here are just a couple of my thoughts because I am SO FRUSTRATED.

• Why does this book vomit a bunch of stereotypes on us? Don't get me wrong, I ADORE diversity but I feel like it's cheating if the characters are such basic caricatures. 
• I could get over the stereotypes though; what really bothers me is that there doesn't seem to be enough focus on the VERY IMPORTANT issue of immigration that the book claims to deal with.
• THE CHARACTERS. I CANNOT EVEN. Carla reminds me of those cliched female leads in PNRs that try to stay under the radar until they meet 'the guy', except this is all happening in a very contemporary and real setting. Also ARDEN. Her reasons for not liking him are so pathetic and basically revolve around her trying not to feel attracted to him. We don't know if she really noticed him before the magical moment of him noticing her! I definitely have more reasons for not liking him than she seems to. For starters, he obviously doesn't take anything seriously and thinks it's funny to prank people (AND THERE WERE GUNS INVOLVED). *shudders* 

That's basically how far I managed to get. Maybe if I had given this book more of a chance I could have seen it bloom into something I might have liked but.... THIS ISN'T GOING TO WORK. BYE BOOK. Maybe a while from now you may get another chance but today isn't that day.