Review + Giveaway: Caterpillar (Blog Tour)

Review:

Title: Caterpillar

Author: Kate Oliver

Book Summary:

“In a small college town in northern California, a lonely young man is working himself to the bone to solve a sixty-year-old problem ... a stranger with a will of iron and eyes the color of ice is searching for someone he can't identify ... and a girl who loves plants is about to grow roots of her own.

When Cara Gallagher's parents are transferred overseas again, she's off to spend her senior year of high school living with her sister, a graduate student at the famed McNair University. Cara, a girl with a passion for science and an indifference to people, hopes this move will be her first step in claiming the independence she craves. Cara has her future planned down to the letter: her college, her major, her career.

Then she saves Will Mallory's life, and both of their futures are completely rewritten.

The last years of Will's life have been spent shifting from one identity to the next, dodging the FBI, and trying desperately to find a way home. But Will's home is forty-four light years away, and to reach it he'll have to outwit the man who's hunting him--and leave behind the only love he's ever known.”

Cara’s family life really sucks.  Her parents are moving over seas at the beginning of her senior year and Cara will be living with her sister.  Living with her sister definitely has its ups and downs, the ups—living in the same house as her best friend.  The downside is that her best friend seems a little overprotective now.  When Cara goes for a drive to explore the beach near her new home she comes across a troublesome sight, a boy who looks like he’s trying to get himself skewered on the jagged rocks below.  As Cara decides to intervene she unknowingly instigates a bond that neither of them could have ever imagined…

Okay the premise was pretty captivating, I mean the GIRL saves the GUY.  Major brownie points right there!  I am really interested to read this because of the alien theme… I haven’t read very many YA alien books but I really enjoyed the ones I have read.  I am a little worried because when I read books like this there’s always that fear that the two MCs will be so different that it can’t work… I do NOT want that to happen!!

            From the very first chapter I was hooked, it just really fell into place.  I didn’t ever find myself feeling like it was to fast of a pace—it felt really comfortable.  It was incredible how at each turn I would still be surprised with some detail of the plotline, and towards the end I kept thinking;

“Poor Cara, she really can’t catch a break!”

            One of the things that I was really happy with was the relationship between Cara and Will.  First off, I LOVED that she rescued him and that he seemed very dependant on her emotionally… it was really touching but still managed not to feel creepy and overbearing.  The other thing about their relationship that was well done was how it evolved: it was insta-attraction not insta-omgIamsofreakinginlovewithyou.  They start off as friends and it’s really nice to see the evolution of their feelings and thoughts, it helps them develop as characters.

            From the very beginning it was clear to me that Cara was a soft spoken individual who loves to create magic.  Her soft-spoken nature is revealed immediately along with her willingness to let things go for the sake of now causing a scene.  The love of magic is something that I saw when she got back to her sister’s house, Cara loves gardening.  She gets such a great feeling from knowing that something comes from plain old brown dirt.  Beautiful things, horrifying things, unexpected things… all you really have to do is use your imagination!  I think in part her deep connection with gardening has to do with the fact that she looks at herself as simple, and unimpressive—just like the dirt she so dearly loves.

Cara really needs to find a four-leaf clover or something because the WORST things keep popping up.  First there are HORRIBLE people at school, then you get to tack on family problems, senior year school/college prep, a new (ALIEN) boyfriend, AND oh by the way the FBI are chasing them.  How’s that for normal? 

The Cover:

I really like the moth on the girls hand… it really ties in the caterpillar/biology themes that are introduced throughout the story.  The green in the dress is really beautiful against the night sky and I really like the soft glow that seems to encompass the girl.  This cover just seems to have a soothing effect and I really like it!

I give Caterpillar 4.5 out of 5 hearts: Very Highly Recommended!

Giveaway: 
(Open Internationally)

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