Book Review: Sweet by Emmy Laybourne

Title: Sweet

Author: Emmy Laybourne

Publisher: Square Fish

Publishing Date: June 1st, 2015
Read: January 27th, 2022

Pages: 304

Audio Length: N/A

Genre: YA Thriller

TW: N/A

Series: Standalone

Source: Physical

What it's about:

They'd kill to get thin.

The luxurious celebrity cruise launching the trendy new diet sweetener Solu should be the vacation of a lifetime. But Laurel is starting to regret accepting her friend Viv's invitation. She's already completely embarrassed herself in front of celebrity host Tom Forelli-the hottest guy ever!-and she's too sick to even try the sweetener. And that's before Viv and all the other passengers start acting really strange.

Tom knows that he should be grateful for this job and the chance to shed his former-child-star image. His publicists have even set up a 'romance' with a sexy reality star. But as things on the ship start to get wild, he finds himself drawn to a different girl. And when the hosting gig turns into an expose on the shocking side effects of Solu, it's Laurel that he's determined to save.

What I thought:

I've only read one other book (Well series..) by Emmy Laybourne and really enjoyed it. I also really like the cover and I knew I had to read it. And then to find out that it's a thriller was even better. I liked this book for what it was. It took me almost a week to finish it because it didn't draw me in right away. But for the most part I enjoyed it. 

Cover:

Like I said up there, I really love this cover. If y'all knew Ash circa 2008-12 you'd know that my DeviantArt (Cringe) was full of pictures of lips and eyes. So this aesthetic is exactly the kind I love.

Story:

I definitely think it's a unique story. At least I've never read a book about sweetener, that's supposed to make people lose weight, also make them act crazy. I won't go too into it because spoilers, but it definitely is an interesting take on it.

Pace: 

Like I also said, this book took a while to draw me in. There is quite a bit of build up and I like YA horror/thriller because it's usually WHAM BAM DONE. So it was a bit slow and then once things started happening... well they really started happening. 

Writing: 

I love Emmy Laybourne. I think she does a great job of writing teens and writing stories. 

Characters: 

I didn't care for ANY of the characters in this book. Laurel was super "I'm not like other girls", Viv is way too try hard, and Tom is so stuck up. I just didn't care for them. Though like I said, Emmy does a good job in writing the characters. I'm sure that's exactly what she was going for. 

World building: 

I only gave this a three star because they're on a cruise, not really much you can write about that. 

Ending: 

The end was very much a "what the hell just happened" in the best way possible. 

Overall:

Overall it was a unique read with quite an interesting ending. 

Possible books of likeness:

Author's info:

Website
http://emmylaybourne.com/

Twitter
EmmyLaybourne

Genre
Young Adult, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Historical Fiction

URL
https://www.goodreads.com/emmylaybourne

EMMY LAYBOURNE is a Young Adult novelist best known for her Monument 14 series, an internationally best-selling trilogy that has been translated into 9 languages. Her standalone book Sweet won a Junior Library Guild Award, was a YALSA Quick Pick and got a Perfect Ten rating from VOYA. Her latest books, Berserker, and Ransacker tell the story of a family of Norwegian teens with ancient Viking powers and are currently being adapted for television.

Emmy is a former character actress, and is occasionally recognized from her role as Mary Katherine Gallagher’s best friend in the movie “Superstar.” She lives outside New York with her husband, two kids, faithful dog and a flock of seven nifty chickens. Visit her online at www.EmmyLaybourne.com.