Did I like it? Yup.
You'll love it if you liked: Fans of both Gossip Girl and action/adventure novels.
Aura: Action-packed.
Read If: You're looking for chicklit-meets-action.
Narration: First Person
Main Character: Candace "Candy" Bettina Cohen, 18 year old female
Themes: Escaping Attack, Action, Adventure, Thrill Ride
Plot: 8.5/10
Narration: 9/10
Characterization: 8/10
Overall: 8.5/10
Did I get bored anywhere? Not really. Just felt that the super-high pace dropped to just high at the middle.
Did any part confuse me? During the course of intense action, I just had to reread some parts to keep up.
Line/ Page Skippability: 0.5/5. Pretty much not at all. Too much going on. Teehee.
Writing Style: Average sentences, Descriptive, Graphic, Vivid, Informal.
Uniqueness: 9.5/10. It was a really unique plot, I must say.
Predictability: 0.5/10
Favourite Quotes: "I never say heart when I mean cheesy stuff. I love the idea of actual hearts, though: the squirmy things with all the veins sticking out. That those are what keep us alive. If i gave you my heart, that’s what it would look like. Not some dumb velvet pillow with lumps and a point at the bottom.”
"But when you broke it down, time wasn’t really like anything else. Even if I lived my whole life naturally, and died in bed at age one hundred and twenty from a broken record, I still wouldn’t have enough time to learn everything I wanted to know, and do all the crazy things I wanted to do.
That’s why I had to keep going."
Cover: 7.5/10
Song(s) to go with book: (Taken from Matthue Roth's soundtrack for the book, click here to download):
01 Candy's On the Run by Alpenglow
02 O.K. Girl by Prowler
03 Who Knows? by Cookie Jar
04 Candy on the Catwalk by Alan Jay Sufrin
05 Jamie Lee Curtis by Edie Sedgwick
06 Candy Ass by The End of the World
07 Zia Alessandra by Giustino Petrone
08 Screaming Candy by Tossing Green
09 I'll Kill You by Postal featuring Matthue Roth
10 Roman Holiday by Giustino Petrone
11 Witchcraft (live) by Burke
12 Lights. Candy. Action. by Itta Roth
Ending: Redeeming, Realistic, Satisfying Closure. No fairytale-ishness.
Reading Priority: Should Read
Reading duration: Fast readers-Approx. 7 hours, Slow readers- Approx 12 days.
Synopsis:
Candy Resnick is just the girl next door — if the girl next door happens to be a college freshman and part-time model with a wicked sense of humor. She and her best friend Velma jaunt around the world, flirt with rock stars and power brokers, and party in countries that don’t know the meaning of the word. All that changes one night, however, when Candy turns down a dinner invitation from the rich and powerful Preston Reign. Suddenly, she finds herself being stalked by a guy who never takes “no” for an answer. Drawn into his web and lacking direction for the first time in her life, Candy is on the run. Dodging bullets, blowing up buildings, being chased through exotic cities, she fights back with the only weapons she has: Velma, her natural wit, and her stiletto heels. Candy in Action is a hilarious novel with a serious message about the lonely side of being popular and the importance of standing your ground.
WordVore Prod's Review:
Candy in Action was a total whirlwind for me—whew! And I mean in the good way.
The book has got it all—adventure, drama (the non-cheesy kind), suspense, humour and even a few life lessons. Candy is the type of person you’d want to be—yet you clearly recognize her flaws and want to rectify them. She is a high-society girl who stampedes all over the picture-perfect-dumb-blonde stereotype by being one of the smartest and toughest cookies around. Candy is extremely good at putting up a cool and composed façade, but she is innately tired and exhausted of it. Her sturdy relationship with her father shows us she is also a good daughter. She has trust issues—issues about opening up to people in the fear of being vulnerable. Being in control makes her feel comfortable and she tries to maintain that position no matter what. Candy may appear slightly snobby at times given her status quo and model-like features, but that’s just evidence that none of us are insensitive to our environment however hard we try. At the beginning she seems like an ice-cold vapid blonde, but reading on you figure out there’s a lot more human to her. Velma, her best friend, is another character quite similar to Candy, but she is slightly more authoritative, conscientious and more expressive. She realizes she has turned into a snobby prick, but has trouble coming in terms with that change. Matty is a fun, airy geek whom you can’t help but go “aww” at, and even though you’ll figure out later why a Candy and Matty pairing would never work; you can feel that the initial chemistry is quite well-developed. Preston, the anti-hero of the story so to speak, is not given much insight of and thus appears as a neurotic, merciless guy who has a hard time giving up on anything.
The book was tightly packed with action and adventure, with only slight dwindling of pace around the middle—but nothing too big. At parts I felt there was too much packed into a short space, but again, not so much that you’re completely lost. I would have liked to see a little more expression from Candy, but it sort of suits the indifferent nature that she has cultured for herself. You’ll have fun with all the pop-culture references, vivid and graphic descriptions, and so much of cultural diversity thrown in. The book rightly celebrates girl power in all its glory—Candy being a butt-kicking alpha heroine with boundless mental and physical strength. I enjoyed the book; it truly kept me on the edge of my seat.

Labels: Action, Adventure, Candy in Action, Matthue Roth, WorDissection

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