The Ridge

Technically it's 3-and-a-half but they don't give half stars *cue sobbing and rage and angry emails.

Received this book in exchange for an honest review. I actually read it a few days after I received the finished book, wrote a review for it and promised myself I would put it on Goodreads. Obviously that did not happen. But here is the review.

IT'S SET IN SOUTH AFRICA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH. Sorry, it's just that there are heaps and heaps of books set in America and wherever else in the world and then you get South Africa with it's extremely stupid stereotypes. Like please come and tell me your stereotypes and let me laugh at them and tell you why you are wrong and why that stereotype was created. Anyway, so I went and read everyone else's reviews to see if they said anything about SA. One reviewer said she went and YouTubed our accents to hear how it sounded and then she said that it takes a while getting used to. Which is kinda calling the kettle black. And also a Durbanite's accent is miles different from a Cape Tonian's and everything.

So I was trying to figure out what year the novel is set in – as they don't really give a specific year or any indication. So I went and looked at the whole slang and tried to figure out from there. And so I was thinking that this has to be set a few years back because we don't use those swear words anymore. But then I remembered that I live in a different part of South Africa than the book and thus my regional dialect is different than the book's. Though it is interesting to see that the author made the characters use many Afrikaans slang. Now I'm all for that because representation and all that but Durban and Toti are more known for being English. But I'd still like to know what time this book is set in.

I love the different relationships between Wayne and Travis and Jess. Obviously the two relationships are different but the both are equally important and Wayne knows that they are both important – which he does.

The narration of the book is very good. It makes the reader want to carry on reading.

I love how Wayne's anxiety and depression or whatever is shown. It shows that teenagers feel very deeply and it shows a side of him that many readers could probably identify with.

I expected the ending to be different and to have an actual ending and then the ending just kind of made me confused but I suppose I'll have to wait for the next book to read it.