Seeking Havok by Lila Felix {Review}

Genre: Mature/Upper Young Adult

Publication Date: September 29th 2013

Series: Stand Alone

Format: Beta/ARC

Source: Provided by author for review

Her life is just as messed up as her name. All she wanted was a friend---one that knew her and not her circumstances. She needed somewhere to call home. Hers was an open door for countless men looking for the services her mother offered them. She camouflaged herself against lockers and blackboards to avoid the stares and whispers at school. And then she found Cal...and Fade. Cal lives like Frankenstein, rising at night to work and just trying to make it until dawn. He avoids most relationships, afraid of the things he will be asked to do. He moonlights as Fade, a radio station DJ who spends hours counseling his peers on their troubles. It was all mundane until Jocelyn called the station. Cal and Havok pursue a friendship. Jocelyn and Fade pursue a relationship beyond the confines of the radio waves. But when Havok disappears, Cal will find that Havok has been guarding a lifetime worth of secrets. And when Fade and Jocelyn’s all night phone conversations cease, he finds a link between them he never saw coming.

My Review:

There is only one other thing I love more than a good book, and that is when an author steps out of their comfort zone and blows my socks, bra, panties and gym shorts completely off with a kick ass book! Ladies and Gentleman Lila Felix has done that for me with this one. Not only was Seeking Havok amazing but it was deep. For an author who has written some really sweet love stories Felix sure delivers a book filled with intense drama, heartbreaking situations and beautiful romance that has left me a week later with a major hangover. 

Havok is a girl who spends her nights trapped in her closet with her headphones on so she doesn't have to hear the unsavory things her mother does to make a living. This simple fact alone seized my heart for this girl and made me love her for having to endure the life she does. She spends her days cleaning up after her mother's shady activities and her nights seeking refuge in the voice of local radio personality Fade. His voice and the music he plays are the only things that bring her some peace. She meets Cal at a local bakery where she does odd jobs to earn food and the two become friends. Cal was probably the best male character tin a book. He was sweet, understanding and just an all around stand up guy and true to the amazing men Felix tends to write about. I think Cal was my favorite out of all the men this author has penned. Havok tries to keep her family situation away from Cal so she can have just one person who doesn't look at her with pity or disgust. I loved these two together so much. They had an easy banter and fun flirtation that made you want them to be together and for Havok to let him in. Their relationship isn't easy due to some really harrowing outside circumstances that will leave you breathless in anticipation and on the edge of your seat until the very end.

Felix channels her inner Hollywood action Diva and packs some drama it into this novel that is reminiscent of my favorite movie Taken. Because of her mother and the shady people she's dealt with Havok ends up in a very intense situation that shocked me honestly. That's where the speechless part comes in. This part of the story was so unexpected I chewed my lips and mouth up until the dust settled. While there was some very romantic and beautiful moments there was also some darker elements that were new to Felix' usual style. Havok goes through a harrowing ordeal not knowing what will happen to her meanwhile Cal is going absolutely crazy trying his best to help her in any way he can and really proves his character to be totally freaking amazing! I don't want to say any more for fear of spoiling the story but Havok and Cal just grabbed a huge chunk of my heart. Havok may have had a bad hand dealt to her in the mother department but she had amazing friends that supported her and filled that void in her life which only added to the beauty of the story. I loved her best friend Ali. Her and her family took Havok in as an almost honorary member of their family and fed her and gave her a place to sleep when she had nowhere else to go. It was a nice change of pace after watching her mother mistreat her so often.

Seeking Havok was an absolute home run for me. I can't say enough amazing things about it. This book was filled with so much win I don't think words can describe what each reader will feel when reading it themselves. Romance, Drama, Action and suspense were packed into this amazing novel that made me laugh, swoon, cry and scream and ultimately took it's place in my heart as my favorite book by this author so far. Felix really proves her writing chops with this one, it's is an absolute must read! If you haven't read anything else by this author I highly recommend you start with Seeking Havok!

Quotes:

I scrubbed myself down, wishing there was a harsher brush to scrub the night from my skin. I relished in the smell of their shampoo  It was ordinary and clean. And it wasn't the kind that went on sale for eighty eight cents either. It was the kind of ordinary and pure that I wanted to be. but no matter how much I scrubbed, I wouldn't ever be the kind of clean that anybody would want. Beta/ARC 31%

"Hav, you don't know how you've changed my life. I was a zombie, a breathing, barely functioning shell of a man with nothing to give anyone. It feels like a gift to be able to help you, especially you. You're so damned strong on your own. I know it's a consolation when you accept things from me. And I'm happy anytime you let me give anything of me to you." Beta/ARC 61%

"I think everyone deserves a person that loves them enough to save them from anything -- from the world, from their enemies, from themselves." 

"Some people aren't worth saving."

"Everyone is worth saving in the eyes of the one that loves them." Beta/ARC 71%

Author Links:

FACEBOOK

TWITTER

GOODREADS

BLOG