Book Review: The Red Sheet by Mia Kerick

Reviewed by Heather C

Title: The Red Sheet
Author: Mia Kerick
Hero: Bryan Dennison
Genre: M/M Young Adult, Contemporary
Length: 57,000 words
Publisher: Harmony Ink Press
Release Date: February 21, 2014
Available at: Harmony Ink Press, Amazon, All Romance eBooks & Barnes and Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads & Booklikes

Blurb: One October morning, high school junior Bryan Dennison wakes up a different person—helpful, generous, and chivalrous—a person whose new admirable qualities he doesn’t recognize. Stranger still is the urge to tie a red sheet around his neck like a cape.

Bryan soon realizes this compulsion to wear a red cape is accompanied by more unusual behavior. He can’t hold back from retrieving kittens from tall trees, helping little old ladies cross busy streets, and defending innocence anywhere he finds it.

Shockingly, at school, he realizes he used to be a bully. He’s attracted to the former victim of his bullying, Scott Beckett, though he has no memory of Scott from before “the change.” Where he’d been lazy in academics, overly aggressive in sports, and socially insecure, he’s a new person. And although he can recall behaving egotistically, he cannot remember his motivations.

Everyone, from his mother to his teachers to his “superjock” former pals, is shocked by his dramatic transformation. However, Scott Beckett is not impressed by Bryan’s newfound virtue. And convincing Scott he’s genuinely changed and improved, hopefully gaining Scott’s trust and maybe even his love, becomes Bryan’s obsession.

Review:

So, YA is normally NOT my thing, and Mia Kerick is a new-to-me-author, but when TBG was asked to participate in the blog tour for The Red Sheet…I was immediately drawn in when I read the blurb.  Yes, I volunteered to read a young adult novel…and you know what?  I LOVED EVERY WORD OF IT!!!

Seventeen year old Bryan Dennison has done something unforgivable, he just can’t remember what he did.  In fact, he woke up with more than a few blanks in his memory and this overwhelming urge to tie a red sheet around his neck (like a cape, not a noose) and change the world.  But who is the real Bryan Dennison and will he be able to redeem himself after all his wrongs?  More importantly, will Scott Beckett ever forgive him of the unforgivable?  Too bad Bryan, can’t remember what that is.

Okay, I’m just going to be frank and put it out there that I’ve been trying to write this review for the last THREE days!  And every time I get started, I stare at the blank page thinking “There are no words!  Like, I’m totally in love with this book, but how can I say it where people really FEEL what I’m trying to say?”  Soooo, here I am resigning myself to accepting that my inadequacies will just have to be enough…

I loved Bryan’s voice.  (Never give up)

I loved all the great secondary characters. (I sat at the band geek table)

I would have loved to know a little more about Scott.  (I’m nosy)

I loved the powerful message.  (It will speak to each reader differently)

I loved the theme song.  (Superman by Five for Fighting)

I loved the happy ending, but didn’t want it to end.  (I’m kinda greedy)

I loved that I was so into this book that I HAD to keep reading it WHILE I was cooking tacos.  (Sadly, I needed two hands to eat the tacos)

I love that three days later, I am still thinking about this book.  (I will be thinking about it for infinitely longer than a measly three days)

Overall Impression: I Loved It!

*I received a copy of this book from the author in return for a fair and honest review.*