Long Way Home (Book Review)

Heyhey Internet!

I hope you are doing well wherever you are in the world right now, and that life is treating you OK. I have been uber busy with all things university, but that doesn't mean I have forgotten about my Miss Memphis duties 😁😁😁

Thanks for letting me be a little bit selfish last week with my The Next Step fangirl session. I know it isn't everyone's cup of tea, but I believe in giving credit where credit is due and they're awesome 💃.

For this week's blog post, it's going to be another gush fest 🙈 I finally got a chance to read my favourite YA author Katie McGarry's latest novel Long Way Home from her amazing Thunder Road series and I LOVED it! 💙💜💚

So without further ado, here is my book review of Long Way Home:

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“Seventeen-year-old Violet has always been expected to sit back and let the boys do all the saving. It’s the code her father – a member of the Reign of Terror Motorcycle Club – raised her to live by. Yet when her dad is killed carrying out Terror business, Violet knows it’s up to her to do the saving…

To protect herself, and her vulnerable younger brother, Violet needs to cut all ties with the club – including Chevy, the boy she’s known and loved her whole life.

But when a rival club comes after Violet, exposing old secrets and making new threats, she’s forced to question what she thought she knew about her father and the Reign of Terror. Which means re-evaluating everything: love, family, friends… and forgiveness.

Caught in the crosshairs between loyalty and freedom, Violet must decide whether old friends can be trusted – and if she’s strong enough to be the one person to save them all” – Back Cover Summary

A killer blurb for a truly killer novel, because Long Way Home is honestly one of the best books I have ever read. The following review should probably just be called 1000 ways I can gush about how wonderful this book is because I cannot fault it.

Where do I begin? Between McGarry’s amazingly intricate writing style to the deep connections she builds between the characters to the deep themes she is able to talk about with ease, this book has everything you could ever want in a young adult novel.

One of the main things that makes Long Way Home and the entire Thunder Road series so enjoyable to read is the ingenious way McGarry writes. It’s provocative, raw and intimate without getting too graphic but also poignantly beautiful and poetic in more intense moments.

A lot of young adult fiction can get bogged down in over-dramatisation and clique emotional stereotypes, but McGarry isn’t afraid to forge her own path by not beating around the bush. Long Way Home has this intensely realistic feel about it that comes out of McGarry’s fearless prose and you can’t help but feel empathy for everything that the characters are going through.

Author Katie McGarry provides readers with a number of profound one-liners; like this one.

When people describe their reactions to any kind of media (not just books), people tend to throw around the term ‘emotional rollercoaster’ without a lot of merit. But when it comes to Katie McGarry, I legitimately mean it because prepare to feel ALL the feels.

Long Way Home is an intense reading experience. The suspense and mystery of what’s on the next page is brutal because there is no shortage of curveballs and crazy plot twists. There’s no relaxation period because the narrative moves at a breakneck pace! Boredom is not something McGarry wants her readers to feel as there is always something to be completely enthralled in.

If you are looking for an easy, casual read – this is not the book for you. I would recommend setting aside a day or two and trying to read it without a lot of interruptions. After getting swept up in the momentum of the action-packed story, you will not want to put it down.

One of the motifs that is present throughout the novel is this poem that involves deciding what road to take in life.

Aside from the fast pace of the narrative, it is also incredibly intricate and complex, and requires a little bit of thinking to keep up. I love that more of the gaps in the chronology and history of the Reign of Terror are being revealed.

I also like how there is this underlying reminder to readers that everyone has more to their story than meets the eye.

Although McGarry never fails to create a variety of relatable multidimensional characters, the star of Long Way Home is certainly female protagonist Violet.

Carrying around a lot of emotional baggage after the death of her father, it was heartbreakingly beautiful to follow her on this journey of pain and difficult choices to finally find some answers and closure.

Another one of McGarry's raw yet incredibly relatable one liners.

There is no denying that Violet is a fighter with her courageous, take-no-prisoners attitude towards life. She was fiercely independent and strong within herself, but also understood the importance of loyalty and relying on those she trusts in tough times.

She is one of the most resilient characters I have ever come across and a powerful role model for young women. Throughout the novel, she championed the idea that a woman’s voice is just as valuable as a man’s and girls should never being afraid to stand up for themselves.

Katie McGarry’s latest addition to her young adult collection is continually interesting and engaging because there is so much going on. Long Way Home’s subject matter does not beat around the bush and the raw discussion of themes like love, heartbreak, grief, loyalty, friendship and family history created a brilliant narrative that left readers eager for more.

I could go on for hours about how much I love this book because there is just so many reasons! If you are looking for a suspenseful yet lovable story that messes with your brain and your heart at the same time, you cannot go past Long Way Home.

10/10 - 💖💖💖💖💖

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There you go, I hope you enjoyed that review. If you did, please share it and recommend to friends/fellow bookworms 😀.

If this review made you guys super excited to read more from Katie McGarry, here is a list of her other work:

Pushing The Limits, Crossing The Line, Dare You To, Crash Into You, Red At Night, Take Me On, Breaking The Rules, Chasing Impossible, Thunder Road series (Nowhere But Here, Walk The Edge).

Question of the Day: Who is your favourite book character of all time? Let me know in the comments below or you can contact/follow me on Instagram (@miss_memphis98) to keep up to date on all my blog stuff 💛

Thanks for reading,

Love and motorcycles, Emily xxx 🍓