Book Review: Tonight the Streets Are Ours

Title: Tonight the Streets Are Ours

Author: Leila Sales

Release Date: September 15, 2015

Publisher: Macmillan

How I Found It: I read Leila Sales' This Song Will Save Your Life and then requested and was given an ARC of her latest.



Synopsis: Recklessly loyal. That's how seventeen-year-old Arden Huntley has always thought of herself. Taking care of her loved ones is what gives Arden purpose in her life and makes her feel like she matters. But lately she's grown resentful of everyone--including her needy best friend and her absent mom--taking her loyalty for granted.

Then Arden stumbles upon a website called Tonight the Streets Are Ours, the musings of a young New York City writer named Peter, who gives voice to feelings that Arden has never known how to express. He seems to get her in a way that no one else does, and he hasn't even met her.
Until Arden sets out on a road trip to find him.

During one crazy night out in New York City filled with parties, dancing, and music--the type of night when anything can happen, and nearly everything does--Arden discovers that Peter isn't exactly who she thought he was. And maybe she isn't exactly who she thought she was, either.

Rating: 3/5

Review: My first thought about this book was that I related to Arden's description of recklessly loyal. I admit to my own tendency to be the same way, one example being my habit to prioritize the mental health of my friends over my own. 

When it comes down to it, I genuinely enjoyed this book. I had a little trouble reading it at first but I could probably attribute that to my mind simply being elsewhere. But, if I'm being completely honest, I also wasn't completely satisfied with the book, especially when comparing it to This Song Will Save Your Life. I can't quite be sure what my expectations were, but I was left with the feeling that, whatever they were, they weren't met. Some of this may be due to the fact that I didn't read the synopsis beforehand, but my reason for doing so was that I sometimes find that synopses give away too much. In the beginning of the book, I was promised a love story but had trouble determining who the participants in this love story would be. 

I was pleased to see it had an epilogue because I feel like they give me a sense of closure, but I think perhaps with this one, we're given a bit too much closure. Some parts of it felt like a voice-over at the end of a movie.

All in all, I'm glad I read it and would still recommend it to a friend.