Book Review: Want You By Jen Frederick

Want You
By Jen Frederick

Bitsy

I might be only nineteen, but I know what I want. It’s Leka Moore. I don’t care that he took me in when he was barely more than a kid himself. I don’t care that he raised me. I don’t care everyone thinks being with him is wrong. I know we belong together, and the only person I need to convince is him.

Leka

I found her in the corner of a dark alley. If I hadn’t taken her with me, she would’ve died that night—or maybe worse. Before I knew it, she became the light in my dark life, the haven from the madness. I watched her grow up. I tried to teach her right from wrong. Now that she’s an adult, I’m feeling things that no good man should ever feel. But then…I’ve never been a good man. I have a chance at redemption by saving her from the greatest danger of all—me.

Available At: | Amazon | My Review:

This was a nice story, but the cover and synopsis made me so apprehensive to pick this up. The cover, in particular, doesn't represent this novel in the slightest and the synopsis made me feel icky about what the relationship was going to be like.

To be honest, there were still some parts of this novel that made my skin crawl if I were to REALLY think about it. The relationship from the outside looking in almost had a stockholm syndrome feel. The age difference isn't really that many years (and isn't what bothered me), but the fact that Leka raised her since she was about five years old just rubs me the wrong way even though they aren't related in any way.

My heart broke for the circumstances Leka and Bitsy were in. Leka took the brunt of it all by doing bad things to make a living. He was never at peace with what he did or helped do. It was always a means to an end. It also made me feel a tad bit less icky with how much he initially fought the relationship between him and Bitsy.

Bitsy as a kid was a bit too well spoken in her chapters (in the first half of the novel) and later on would become a very stubborn and goal oriented woman. There were times when she was childish because things with Leka weren't going her way. The decisions she took to try and get a major reaction out of him only put her in more danger and made her look dumb and desperate. Most of the second half of this story wouldn't have happened had she and Leka sat down and communicated like adults. I also didn't understand why everyone loved to point out how "not pretty" Bitsy was. What was up with that?

This novel didn't have the emotional impact I was expecting it to have. There were a few magical moments here and there but, for most of the novel, everything felt stuck on the surface. There were also a few parts where I would have liked a better transition instead of the character making me guess the new setting they were in and how they got there for a chapter or two.

The ending (epilogue) has me invested in Zach and Beckett's story. I would love to read about Leka and Bitsy's daughter finding love if the author ages everyone up. I wasn't expecting to like it as much as I did and it did help me feel less weird about this story in the end. - Spoiler

Overall this was an interesting story after I put aside my biases and just accepted it for what it was. The way the author went about extracting Leka out of the gang life though was way too easily done for me. Everything went too right for them and nothing ever came knocking with consequences ((even years after they had children) - Spoiler).

My Favorite Quotes:

"I might not be a queen of a country, but I'm ready to rule my own domain."

"We were both dealt terrible hands in life, but fate made up for it by bringing us together."

"We're going to make it out together or not at all."

My Rating: