Review+Interview: Chasing the Taillights by Kate Larkindale + Giveaway!

Chasing the Taillights

Author: Kate Larkindale

Published: 26th February 2021

Publisher: Evernight Teen

Number of pages: 213

Format: eBook

Source: Received from author

Purchase: Amazon| B&N| Smashwords

From Goodreads:

Lucy and Tony share nothing except genes. Tony’s the champion diver destined for greatness. Lucy’s biggest concern is getting Cute Guy from the burger joint to ask her out.

After an accident kills their parents, the siblings are forced to rely on one another—and decide whether to reveal their secrets.

Lucy can’t tell Tony what she knows about the accident for fear of destroying the tentative bond between them. If she doesn’t confess, she might lose her mind. If she does, she might lose the only person she has left who loves her.

Tony has problems too. Between diving practice, classes and concealing the crush he has on his best friend Jake, Tony needs to find room in his life for his sister, but his own stability dwindles with every passing day.

As the siblings struggle to overcome a lifetime of past conflicts and jealousies, they discover they might have more in common than a love of rock music.

My Review

Chasing the Taillights follows the story of Tony and Lucy, brother and sister that were never really close until the death of their parents force them together. The idea of this book interested me right away as it sounded like a story that would definitely bring me through an emotional journey. But to write a story like this, I believe you must have a certain sensitivity and the ability to transport the readers into the characters’ hearts.

In my opinion, Kate Larkindale completed this job perfectly! I was scared at first to approach this kind of book because if the emotional side of the story would not have been dealt with in an exemplar way, I know that I would have suffered for the simple plot. But the characters’ development and interiority was so well presented, that I was never bored by the lack of action.

Both Lucy and Tony are great protagonists: they are mature without losing their spontaneity, they are sweet and tender yet they both have a strong temperament. I loved to see their relationship grow and if there is one thing I would reproach the author is the fact that we have just a few episodes of these two actually spending time together. The strenght of their connection, infact, grows out of their slow understanding of one another, more than out of actual moments shared. It is a silent growth that we experience, made of facts more than words since both Tony and Lucy struggle with pouring out their feelings. I really enjoyed this aspect of the book,though, since it made me concentrate more on the emotions hidden behind their gestures. Another great part of the story that certainly had an impact in the emotional rollercoaster this book was, is the romance between Jake and Tony, that was so well structured that I wish we could have a book aside just for the two of them. But to focus too much on this love story, would probably have distracted the readers from Tony and Lucy’s growth and I loved how the author managed to make the romance just a sweet addition to complete the book perfectly.

Overall, I consider myself really satisfied by this book: the author’s writing was extremely fluent and intense, the emotions were relatable and sincere and I was really not expecting for this book to be so easy to get attached to. I’ll be certainly be checking out more of Kate Larkindale book, an author I’m really happy to have discovered! 

Rated

Meet the author!

1. Hello Kate, thank your for stopping by! I would start by asking you to introduce yourself and tell us how you got into writing.

Thanks for having me Sara!

I’m Kate Larkindale and I’m a writer who currenly lives in Wellington, New Zealand. I don’t feel like I ever “got into writing” as such; I’ve always written. My first story was published in the ‘Kid Stuff’ section of our local paper when I was six!

2. Is there any new author that has grasped your interest?

Gah! There are so many... But if I have to name just one, I recently read a book called We Contain Multitudes by Sarah Henstra, and that’s been one of my highlights so far this year. She may not be a new author, but she’s new to me...

3. What book are you reading now?

I was really lucky and won an ARC of Hannah Moskowitz’s new book, The Love Song of Ivy K Harlow, so that’s what I’m reading right now.

4. Besides Chasing The Taillights, what is another of your novels you’re most proud of and why?

I’m proud of all my books for different reasons. But if I had to pick one, it would probably be STUMPED. I loved writing that one so much. Ozzy is such a complicated character – he’s kind of an asshole at the start of the book – and it was fun to throw obstacle after obstacle into his path until he was forced to grow up and be a better person.

And I’m really proud of the one I finished last year. It’s called Standing Too Close and I’ve been trying to write versions of this story since I was about thirteen, and I finally feel like I have done it justice. Hopefully I’ll find a home for it soon so readers can love it as much as I do!

Thanks so much for having me today. It’s been fun!

The Giveaway!

The author Kate Larkindale has kindly offered to gift one of you

with an ecopy of one of her books, winner's choice. Here's a peek at

what you might be winning... Good Luck!

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway