This book wasn’t for me. I did not finish therefore I can’t give a review.

Giving 3 stars for a fair rating as I didn’t finish

The book was very well-written, highly captivating. I was immersed already by the beginning. However, it is a deeply tragic story, a lot of drama, heartache. The book did not provide with any growth for the characters, but rather a downfall.

After reading Inebriated, I was so ready to get into Neon Nights and knew I'd have my heart ripped out of my chest again. And then . . . I didn't. Yes, the ending completely caught me off guard — I didn't see it coming, that's for sure — however, the lead up was very lackluster.

We follow along with Cait after the death of her best friend. Cait's going to a specialty school and meets Pete, so she finally has a friend to take her mind off things and rebuild herself. Pete has his own demons to deal with in his personal life with his boyfriend, and Cait tries to help him along the way.

Then Adrien comes back. This is where everything starts to go up in flames. Cait isn't there for her friend because she leaves with Adrien to go on tour. Then Adrien starts back into his wild behavior after being in recovery. Cait isn't enough to stop him and she's stuck in the middle and is pretty much trapped.

I can see where some elements of Neon Nights is heart wrenching. There's physical and emotional abuse. There's alcohol and drug abuse. However, this sequel didn't quite reach me the same way that the first installment did.

Just as questionable and problematic as the first book.

Watching Cait make all the same mistakes was deeply frustrating. She's a deeply unlikeable character.

The moral messaging in this book and Inebriated is weak and when you're writing an 'issue book' the morals are the most important part.

I would not recommend this book for teenagers.

I enjoy this series for what it is. It's like reading something along the lines of teen dramas I watched growing up, like the OC. So in that sense, the story is addicting- wanting to know what happens next. I was hoping the story would take a different trajectory but enjoyed it nevertheless.

May 27, 2020SusanEdit"Inebriated and Neon Nights by Katey Taylor"
A wild ride from start to finish
Trigger warnings: substance abuse; sexual assault; bereavement

This duo of books was not quite what I was expecting but ended up being more than I would have asked for. Cait is a likeable teen who ends up living a very grown up life after a chance meeting with the man of her dreams – rockstar Adrien Cross.

The story follows Cait as she traverses her friendships, family life and heartbreak. Both books are consistent in their messages, one being the highs and lows of substance use and abuse. Making difficult choices for the ones she loves, Cait tries to change her life in the second book but something draws her back to her previous life and previous heartbreak.

I enjoyed these books and overall would rate them

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 4 out of 5.
I received egalleys from the publisher through netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

#NeonNights is the sequel to Inebriated, and my advice is to read Inebriated before you start this one!

Cate is moving on from the tragic events of the summer and her lost love, Adrien Cross, a talented singer who struggles with heroin addiction. Sometimes I got annoyed at Cait as it seemed that she hadn’t learned any lessons, but then isn’t that the same with us all? Her life once again fills with drama and bad decisions and I hoped that she would turn it all around.

This was an enjoyable book, and I recommend it to teens as a gripping summer read.

Thanks to #NetGalley & the publisher for my free advance copy.

Title: Neon Nights: A Sequel
Author: Katey Taylor
Publisher: Amazon
ISBN: 9781732750425
Edition: E-Book
Publication date: 24/03/2020

Content:
"Liquor and lust and troubled boys who are hard to trust..."
The seenteen-year-old Cait magically attracts bad decisions. After a summer full of tragedies, she suffers from the aftermath of a failed relationship and has to deal with the pieces that are left.
But... WILL Cait be able to get on the right path and to continue her journey? Or will her past catch her again and trag her down?

Opinion:
At first, the cover is pure beauty! I totally fell in love with it. With the characters in the book I have some kind of hate-love-relationship. Sometimes I love them, for example Cait, and in the next moment I could hit her for her bad decisions. They are so nicely described that they could even be people in real life. I love the writing style of the author and the way she describes people and settings, but also the thoughts of Cait. The whole story was so damn heartbreaking, I almost cried at certain points. Sometimes this happed out of sadness, sometimes out of anger.

Conclusion:
All in all, I really recommend this book! It is full of surprises and so catchy! There is literally no reason to not read it!

I got the second book, so I'll write my review not knowing what happened in the first book. I had the feeling that I was missing something in this book, but reading the sinopse about the first one, I knew that was it I was missing. The book talk about grieving, alcohol and drugs addicting and abusive relationships. I think Katey could explore more about these subjects to alert who it could be worst then we see in the news, specially with all that opioid crises around the USA. The last pagesBut it's a good book, well write and I hope I could read the first one, so I could change my mind about focus more in these subjects.

A great sequel to Inebriated! Cait’s story continues with darker and tougher topics such as drugs, addiction and alcohol. It had this darker romance that drew me in instantly. So many factors in this book kept me continuously flipping the pages. I never finish a book in one or two sittings and I was able to do that with both Katey Taylor’s books!

TW: addiction, drug use, alcoholism

I felt much the same about this book as I did the first. It feels a bit like a wattpad story. It's not bad it just needs some work. There's plenty of drama to keep you entertained though.

After reading the first book I was excited to see the sequel on NetGalley! Such a raw & emotional book as expected. Don’t recommend if you’re easily triggered by intense topics such as drugs and addiction.

Thank you to NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.

I loved this book so much. Thank you so much for letting me read it!
I can't say much about this book as that will give spoilers.
It's a sequel to another book that i haven't read yet but i still got what was going on.
Its about a girl called Cait after an accident wich left her devastated. She becomes best friends with a boy called Pete.When she moves to LA.
I really like how i was able to connect wity the characters and how they felt.
I would highly recommend this book to a friend!

I loved this book. I will admit I haven't read the first one but it truly was great. A story of friendship, rebellion this book has so many different things going on , I really couldn't put it down. Truly a page turner a must read.

This is one of those books that just sweep you off of your feet. I really liked all of the dynamics between the characters. They all felt so much more real or 'alive' even, in comparison to the first novel (which I loved, btw). There were so many action packed scenes, the tension of what was going to happen shivered my spine and the drugs abuse scenes were just on point. I really feel like the author has grown in writing style and character development. The only thing that bothered me about the main character is that she showed such repetitive behavior towards the love interest. Not once or twice, but several times throughout both books. That made me roll my eyes a bit.
Neon Nights picks up where Inabriated left off and that was nice, because we see the main character there, struggling with everything she's been through, deciding she needs a new start. I always love the "let's go somewhere else for a new start"-trope. She has no friends, but several memories that "haunt" her in some sort of way. I felt her struggles and I thought all of her actions made sense, except for her constantly, almost depending, behavior on Adrien. Come on Cait, really? But in the end, I loved their raw story. It shows that life isn't a smooth path, but it's bumpy, rough, tricky even. I'm happy to have read both books. I think the author is definitely getting a big fan base and I'd love to read more by her.

Thank you so much NetGalley, Katey Taylor and publisher for this e-ARC!
I'm rating this one 4/5 stars!

This is the story of Cait, a high school senior reeling from the impacts of last summer. She starts senior year in a new city, with no friends, which is a lonely way to start what is supposed to be the best year of high school. She becomes fast friends with a gay boy in her class. He fluxuates between a dedicated friend and an absent one. He is also not always the best influence in her life, yet he is at times her savior.

This book is the sequel to the YA novel Inebriated. It is very similar in style and also seems exclusively geared towards a teen audience. There are lots of moments consisting of excessive drinking and drugs throughout the book and I think there were missed opportunities to focus on the repurcussions of the choices made throughout the book. The last part of the book deals with those repurcussions of choices very well and some of the moments are purely heartbreaking.

This book is probably 4 stars for a teen audience and 3 stars for an adult. It lacks the depth and character development that most adults crave. It's a fast read and I would recommend it to teens who enjoy reading with a warning of physical abuse and drug use throughout the book.

Thank you Amazon, Katey Taylor and Netgalley for this book in exchange for my honest review.

This is a sequel to a book that I loved.

There is a lot going on in this one and, at the same time, I am amazed at how none of the characters grew at all.

In fact, if anything, Cait is even more irritating than in the first book. She is in a new school and a new area and she manages to make absolutely NO friends, except for a guy that is even more broken than she is. There are absolutely no healthy characters in this story - from the guy next door who is simply creepy to the fact that Cait's mother is absolutely clueless (again? still?), nobody is wiser.

Cait, as the main character, is now close to 18 and still acts like a silly little girl who, once again, does not pay the price for her own addictions. She goes to pills and booze and somehow, is never called on the carpet. I disliked her in the first book and really grew to hate her in this one.

The Adrian character had some redeeming factors for a bit, but soon went back to who he is always would be.

There is an interesting twist at the end of this story that I did not necessarily see coming and it does add a layer to the story.

Once again, the writing is great and engaging. This author does not shy away from writing tough scenes, which I love, but I had to give this 3 stars because the characters just did not grow at all from the last book.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to review this book.

SPOILERS


Neon Nights takes up where Inebriated left off. Cait has moved from Caleveras to San Diego, to live with her mom. She starts a new school for troubled kids and meets a new friend, but other than that, nothing changes. She doesn't deal with what happened to Steph at all, and the past months are barely talked about in the book at all. Within pages, Cait is back to drinking anytime anything remotely inconveniences her.

Cait gives Adrien a lot of flack for being an addict, but she is basically an alcoholic. She drinks anytime she's sad, or upset, or mad, or wants to have fun. Her mother is oblivious and never home, which when your daughter has recently been in a fatal crash fueled by booze and drugs, is stupid. Nothing has changed at all from the first book. There is no growth. When Cait and Adrien reunite, it's clear how the book will end. I wasn't sad, just frustrated.

I wanted more from this book. I wanted her to grow up a little and realize her mistakes, but she didn't. I realize she's 17/barely 18, but she's not naive. She's completely immature and vapid. The only things you ever learn about her is she's pretty and drinks constantly. Those are her only qualities.

Can she fix the train wreck that is her life? I really liked the first book so I was really looking forward to this one and it didn't disappoint. Pick it up and see if Cait has grown up and learned from her mistakes or is she doomed to repeat them over and over. Happy reading!

Katey Taylor why must you rip my heart out??!?

What an amazing sequel to "Inebriated"!!!

I love the writing and the characters. I have been engrossed since the first page and had a hard time putting the book down.

I would suggest to the reader to read "Inebriated" first, even though the back story is given in detail, I think you miss the emotional journey that Cait has been on and everything that happens in "Neon Nights" won't be as impactful without it..

I look forward to what Katey writes next!

A special thank you to NetGalley, Amazon, and Katey Taylor for providing me with and ARC.