Review At-a-Glance
- Title: Auburn Ride
- My Rating: 4.5
- Genre: Mystery
- Format: Audiobook*
- Publication Date: November 22, 2016
- Author: David Stever
Similar To
Book Blurb
Winning a scholarship to California’s most prestigious art school seems like a fairy tale ending to Sabine Reye’s awful senior year. After losing both her mother and her home, Sabine longs for a place where she belongs.
But the cutthroat world of visual arts is nothing like what Sabine had imagined. Colin Krell, the renowned faculty member whom she had hoped would mentor her, seems to take merciless delight in tearing down her best work—and warns her that she’ll lose the merit-based award if she doesn’t improve.
Desperate and humiliated, Sabine doesn’t know where to turn. Then she meets Adam, a grad student who understands better than anyone the pressures of art school. He even helps Sabine get insight on Krell by showing her the modern master’s work in progress, a portrait that’s sold for a million dollars sight unseen.
Sabine is enthralled by the portrait; within those swirling, colorful layers of paint is the key to winning her inscrutable teacher’s approval. Krell did advise her to improve her craft by copying a painting she connects with . . . but what would he think of Sabine secretly painting her own version of his masterpiece? And what should she do when she accidentally becomes party to a crime so well -plotted that no one knows about it but her?
Complex and utterly original, What I Want You to See is a gripping tale of deception, attraction, and moral ambiguity.
My Thoughts
I worry with certain characters that I’m not going to be able to create an emotional connection, because I cannot empathize with their life. In What I Want You to See, I had those concerns simply because, on the surface, we have very little in common.
Beyond the fact that she is an amazingly talented art student, and my toddler can draw better than I can, Sabine has had an incredibly difficult life. Thankfully, I have never been homeless, and I don’t know what it feels like to lose my only parent. So from the jump, I didn’t think I could really understand her struggles.
This is where Catherine Linka’s excellent writing takes over.
Sabine became a regular girl in irregular circumstances. I could feel her inner struggles and even understand where her art comes from. Her boy struggles were just like my boy struggles in school, only a little more dramatic in the end. The constant need to not disappoint people is palpable throughout the book, and I can’t begin to describe how much I identified with it.
I wouldn’t say this plot is unexpected. I could tell where the story was going, but the journey is what the book is really about. Just like Sabine, I couldn’t see the way out of the situation she slowly got herself into.
This happens a lot in life. How many times have people warned you that you were making a mistake, but you can’t see that and do it anyway. “That boy isn’t good enough for you.” “Do you think that’s really a good idea?” “Let’s just talk about it before you do it.” The problem for Sabine is that she’s been on her own for so long, she hasn’t let anyone in to see what she’s really doing.
The people in her life only see what she wants them to see.
She’s alone without the benefit of the second opinion we all take for granted or don’t even know we’re getting. Further proving the old adage, “No man is an island entire of itself.” Thanks, John Donne, for that eternal wisdom.
What I Want You to See is a genre shifting, coming of age, young adult novel. With constant moral questions, complex characters, and a non-stop plot, it’s difficult to put this book down. This is the perfect book for any fan of contemporary YA.
Book Links
Goodreads Amazon B&N iTunes Bookdepository Google Books
a Rafflecopter giveaway Direct Link: http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/d9681b86451/?About the Author
Catherine Linka is the author of the young adult novel WHAT I WANT YOU TO SEE as well as the dystopian series A GIRL CALLED FEARLESS and A GIRL UNDONE. A GIRL CALLED FEARLESS was an ABA Indie Next Pick and won the Young Adult Novel Award 2014 from the Southern California Independent Booksellers Association. A frequent speaker at writing and teen conferences, Catherine received her MFA from Vermont College of Fine Arts and worked as a young adult book buyer for an independent bookstore for seven years. Prior to pursuing a career in publishing, she studied international politics at Georgetown University followed by a master’s degree in business at the University of North Carolina. Catherine is married and lives with her husband in the San Gabriel foothills. Visit her at www.catherlinelinka.com.
Connect with Catherine Linka
Goodreads Website Twitter Instagram Facebook
Leave a Reply