Review: Two-Way Street by Lauren Barnholdt

Two-Way Street by Lauren Barnholdt
Published by Simon Pulse 2007

There are two sides to every breakup.

This is Jordan and Courtney, totally in love. Sure, they were an unlikely high school couple. But they clicked; it worked. They're even going to the same college, and driving cross-country together for orientation.

Then Jordan dumps Courtney -- for a girl he met on the Internet.

It's too late to change plans, so the road trip is on. Courtney's heartbroken, but figures she can tough it out for a few days. La la la -- this is Courtney pretending not to care.

But in a strange twist, Jordan cares. A lot.

Turns out, he's got a secret or two that he's not telling Courtney. And it has everything to do with why they broke up, why they can't get back together, and how, in spite of it all, this couple is destined for each other.

♥♥♥♥♥

Road trip? Yes, please! This was a fantastic read and it's definitely one of my new favourites. 

Jordan and Courtney were completely in love, and they had a great relationship. They're even going to the same college, and they're driving cross-country in Jordan's car together for orientation. Then, Jordan dumps Courtney for a girl he met on the internet. The break-up has taken a toll on Courtney, but the trip is still on. However, there's more to the break-up than Courtney thinks, and Jordan is keeping things from her.


The story is told within two time zones, Before and After, and it is told from the points of view of both Jordan and Courtney. I really liked this because you get to see the break-up from both sides, and you also get to see how Jordan and Courtney met, and how their relationship progressed until it catches up with the present.


Courtney was a believable character. She reacted to the break-up as practically any girl would, albeit she has some other odd ways of making herself feel better about it. I liked her because she was a nice girl, and a bit crazy. Jordan was ultimately a player. He liked going to parties and sleeping with girls. However, he was generally very sweet during his relationship with Courtney, and how much he cares for her shows in both the Before and After chapters. Then there's BJ, Jordan's best friend. He was ridiculously crazy and Jordan looked out for him to make sure things didn't get too out of hand, and I really liked their friendship. All the characters were fantastic, and there were many funny moments. 

The plot twist was great. I didn't expect what Jordan was actually keeping secret from Courtney, and I ended up really sympathising with him. I understood why he felt that he needed to keep the secret. Naturally, the secret comes out and this is the basis towards the end of the story. In the end, the ending was really well done. Overall, this was a great heartfelt story that I really liked.

4 stars


P.S. Sorry about the spacing, I keep trying to fix it but it's going nowhere!

Review: Aces Up by Lauren Barnholdt

Aces Up by Lauren Barnholdt
Published by Delacorte Press 2010

Seventeen-year-old high school senior Shannon Card needs money. And lots of it. She's been admitted to Wellesley, but her dad just lost his job, and somehow she has to come up with a year of tuition herself. But Shannon's dream of making big bucks waitressing at the local casino, the Collosio, disappears faster than a gambler's lucky streak. Her boss is a tyrant, her coworker is nuts, and her chances of balancing a tray full of drinks while wearing high-heeled shoes are slim to none. Worse, time is running out, and Shannon hasn't made even half the money she'd hoped.

When Shannon receives a mysterious invitation to join Aces Up, a secret network of highly talented college poker players, at first she thinks No way. She has enough to worry about: keeping her job, winning the coveted math scholarship at school, and tutoring her secret crush, Max. But when Shannon musters up the nerve to kiss Max and he doesn't react at all, the allure of Aces Up and its sexy eighteen-year-old leader, Cole, is suddenly too powerful to ignore.

Soon Shannon's caught up in a web of lies and deceit that makes worrying about tuition money or a high school crush seem like kid stuff. Still, when the money's this good, is the fear of getting caught reason enough to fold?

♥♥♥♥♥

This book caught my eye when Clover over at Fluttering Butterflies reviewed it as part of Love Month. She gave it a glowing review, and I bought myself a copy.

Shannon Card is a high school senior who has received early admission into Wellesley, the college of her dreams. Problem is, her dad just lost his job at the bank and her family didn't set up a college fund, so now she has no money for college. She decides to take a job at the Collosio Casino, using a fake ID and even a fake birth certificate. While working there, she meets Cole, who invites her to join a secret underground poker society called Aces Up, based on her excellent maths ability. At first she doesn't like it, but her job doesn't pay as well as she'd hoped, and when her feelings get hurt by her secret crush, Max, it's the last straw. She joins Aces Up, and soon gets caught up in something dangerous.

When I first heard about this book, I wanted to read it immediately. I've never read anything like this before, and I've never even heard how a game of poker works, let alone played an actual game. It all sounded very intriguing. Shannon is the average girl, apart from the fact that she has exceptional maths skills. I liked how she did what she had to do in order to get money for college and I see why she got the job at the casino because it paid a lot more than other jobs, but I just felt a bit uncomfortable with the fact that she had to work in a (quite frankly skanky) casino wearing a really tight outfit. She was, however, a likeable character with lots of ambition, and I liked that about her. I found Cole very alluring but shady. Yes, he was the mysterious type with the cocky grin and he's very good-looking. He knew how to get around things and get the things he wanted, and he was very good at manipulating people. However, Shannon still had common sense throughout the whole ordeal with Cole, which I really admired about her because she knew that he was essentially doing something illegal and things could get dangerous, and that being a part of Aces Up could put her early admission to college in jeopardy. But yes, she did go along with it because she needed the money, and that's where things really start getting interesting. I liked how Barnholdt managed to explain the fundamentals of poker and its complexity without making it seem boring. Barnholdt's descriptions of the game also helped add to the thrill Shannon was feeling while playing, and I felt the thrill along with her. Things start to go wrong towards the end of the book, and I loved how Barnholdt really managed to turn the tables (see what I did there?). It really picks up from there and I couldn't get enough of it. I don't know why, but the mood and some things that happened in the book kind of put me off the book a little bit. The book just didn't really stick with me as much as I thought it would; although, don't me get wrong, the story overall is great and the ending was sweet. For those reasons, I'm giving this book 3.5 stars.

3.5 stars