#Review: NIGHT SPEED by Chris Howard

NIGHT SPEED

Author: Chris Howard
Source: Purchased from Chapters
Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books
Publication Date: May 3, 2016
Rating: 3.5/5 stars

Summary:
Only those young enough can survive the pulse-pounding rush of tetra, a dangerous and addictive new drug that fuels a nine-minute burst of superhuman strength and speed. Alana West has been trained to use the drug so she can pursue the young criminals who abuse its power—criminals like the breakneck who nearly killed her kid brother.

On tetra, Alana is unstoppable. The rush makes her an explosive blur as she surges through New York City, battling to bring down breaknecks before they leave more people dead or injured in their wake. But with the clock ticking down to her eighteenth birthday, Alana will soon be too old for the rush...when just one more dose will prove deadly.

Supported only by her strong and steady handler, Tucker, Alana goes undercover, infiltrating an elite gang of breaknecks to stop the supply of their drug. But when Alana gets trapped on the wrong side of the law, she learns the breaknecks are not quite what they seem—especially Ethan, the artistic boy whose bottomless brown eyes seem to see the truth inside her. With her own dependency on tetra increasing, Alana must decide where her loyalties lie before the rush ends. Forever.

Purchase:

Amazon | Chapters | TBD

While I definitely enjoyed this one, I'm a little disappointed by the ending. I thought there would be idk more? It felt like there was so much build up and not enough release. Also I thought the whole wishy-washy aspect of Alana and her decision at the end was kind of weird and stupid. However, I really liked the story itself. I think it was interesting to see how the drug use affected different people and both sides of taking the drug.


I really liked the set up, the characters, the story line, literally everything but the ending. For such a high octane story, it feel a little flat to me. I was really into the story and was on the edge of my seat reading up until the last 60 or so pages. The decisions made at this time and some of the reveals felt a little awkward and out of place. The decision Alana makes -- and then unmakes five pages later -- felt like a reason to get all the characters in a certain spot rather than a decision I could fully see her making.

And I wasn't a fan of how the love triangle was handled. I am okay with love triangles that feel natural and right but this one felt a little forced and then was neatly cleaned up at the end because of course there has to be an easy solution to who our main character falls in love with. Love is never messy.

Overall I do recommend this one. It was high speed, fun, and looked at how drug use can affect people and the rush vs the affects it has on your body. I was really enjoying it but found the ending to be a bit of a let down.