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30.10.12Take Me There by Carolee Dean was a okay book. The way Dean let the story unfold was quite amazing (It wasn’t like most books were you know all the drama happens somewhat towards the end – this was different). However there were times when I wanted to give up on the book because it was giving me headaches due to the fact that the main characters were annoying.The story follows Dylan (Jr.) Dawson and his friend Wade in between chapters back and forth to the past and present but it all comes together in the end. Dylan’s father (Dylan Dawson Sr.) is in jail for a crime that was committed when Dylan was six years old. The way Dylan was portrayed throughout the book as illiterate was irritating because there would be times in the book where he would write in his journal (where the English was bad) and made excuses as to why he couldn’t read and lied to those around him. Wade wasn’t too bad but wanted to punch him at times. Wade and Dylan were in jail too for crimes which the gang they were part of asked them to do and did 18 months’ time. Throughout the book, they were on probation and working for one of the police officers at a mechanic/car lot. Wade kept violating the probation terms such as smoking weed, drinking etc. but he especially wanted to go back into the gang for “protection”. This is what wanted me to punch him because clearly, he wasn’t learning from past mistakes, which I, myself, learn from by accidently doing once. Other characters like Dylan’s mum, uncle, dad, the gang and crush, Jess, were all people I could relate to more than either Dylan or Wade. It’s safe to say I’m still making my mind up on this book but I’d give it 3.5/4 stars, but definitely wouldn’t wholeheartedly recommend it to others as there are definitely better books than this one out there. While this book may have been excruciating to read, I’m actually looking forward to Dean’s next book, Forget Me Not, to see if she has improved in terms of connecting to characters, storyline, and writing style.