I could really appreciate what this author did and I’ll like to start by saying this book just wasn’t for me. I can understand a specific age range and audience enjoying this more, but unfortunately it just didn’t work for me. The characters felt very bland and the storyline just wasn’t that amazing.

Unfortunately, I didn’t enjoy this book at all. The characters were one dimensional, the plot was trite and the writing wasn’t good.

I'm going to start this off by saying this story was not for me. My feelings about this book are more to do with my dislike of the story than the author's writing. The author's writing was fine; the story just didn't do it for me.

The premise of the story drew me in and I thought I would really enjoy it. That being said, too much of the story was unbelievable and frustrating for me to enjoy it. Never mind the parts that were predictable.

Scarlet was constantly on about how she's "not like other girls" and "not like everyone else." She abhorred the bullying her Angel of a boyfriend leveled at Eli, but she stayed with him and is apparently the only decent human being (besides Eli) at her school.

Spoilers:

My best friend was murdered when I was 16 years old. You cannot convince me that after a nothing amount of time the cops would just drop the case. ESPECIALLY knowing the murdered party was an informant for them on gang activity.

Overall I enjoyed this book from Wattpad author Liz Plum, but it’s one of those books I would never consider rereading or really recommend to anyone. I just didn’t like how predictable the plot was at times. For the most part I did like the main character Scarlet, I could understand why some readers’ would be annoyed with how Scarlet is so loyal to her verbally abusive boyfriend Jack but I think the author gave her a great voice and truly showed how hard it can be for some people to leave a relationship like that when someone is being manipulated or scared to walk away. This book just had a lot going on throughout it.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for allowing me to read an early readers copy in exchange for an honest review.

My feelings about this book are All. Over. The . Place!!

On one hand, I adore the good girl, bad boy vibe that this book has going on. Bad boys are just my thing and that is what caught my attention when deciding on picking up this book. But, our main girl of Scarlet had me all kinds of annoyed! She was so wishy-washy, did she want to stay with her boyfriend or did she want to move on? The fact that she made up excuses for her boyfriend’s brutal and bullying behavior had me disliking her practically from page one.

I really liked Elijah, but just did not like them together. He was sweet and caring plus an all around bad a$$ but had it kept on the down low. He was truly portrayed as a really stand up guy.

I did finish the read but ended up just giving the book a 3. The romance had me feeling icky but I really liked our bad boy!

Content warning: bullying, abuse

Review:

The dynamic between the major characters in this story is great. There are connections kept secret from Scarlet that add so much complexity to the story’s development. It is hard to know throughout who is ‘good’ and who is ‘bad’, which is so very high school drama and I’m all for it.

The story starts off with a bang and intense emotions. It then slows down and picks back up. This is a pattern that is repeated until those slow moments completely vanish and it’s all high emotions and action until the end.

So much happened in this story that I was amazed it didn’t feel cobbled together. The entire plot flowed really well with logical focus shifts as the story and characters developed.

Overall, I love this story and wish it didn’t wrap up so well so I could hope for a sequel! I am looking forward to what the author writes next! Her story and characters give me a ‘dark’ Dessen feel and I’m all for.

This novel put me in tears, especially at the end. The way two characters connect over their shared histories of losing important people in their lives, was absolutely heartwrenching to read about. Definitely a lot of plot twists here and there. Not only does this book have the romance we all love, but there are definitely themes of mystery and conflict, as we read along to find out what really happened to Max Tucker, and how Elijah's family is connected to it. I also love the theme of never judging a book by its cover. Scarlet is the first person to really see Elijah for more than the quiet kid who walks around with his hood over his head. Definitely a beautiful read :)

2 stars

I used to be an extremely active reader on Wattpad a few years ago. While I did not read Fight For Her during my time there, I did read a few books with the same tropes: bad boy and fighting.

To be honest, I was not a fan of Fight For Her by Liz Plum. I liked that the author took some typical Teen/YA clichés and added a twist to it. That is, instead of the bad and mysterious boy being popular at the school, he is constantly bullied and called a "freak." Instead of the female main character being a "nerd" or a new student, she is the popular girl. With these twists, Liz's debut novel definitely had the potential.

However, I personally could not connect to any of the characters. I disliked Scarlet for being a bystander when her boyfriend bullied Elijah. I disliked Jack for being unnecessarily mean and arrogant. I didn't dislike Elijah per se, but I also didn't like him.

I disliked the relationship between Scarlet and Jack for being toxic and frankly unbelievable. Even though Scarlet said that Jack was a good boyfriend and Jack said that he loves her, I was dubious. Aside from the frequent use of the word "babe," nothing else in their relationship screamed "we're in love and actually care for each other!" And speaking of unbelievable relationships, there was definitely something missing between Scarlet and Elijah.

If this isn't optioned for a Netflix series, I will absolutely riot. What an unique book and incredibly intricate story. Scarlet and Elijah are a force to be reckoned with and I really admired their coming together in the face of adversity.

3.5 stars

Fight For Her is a good ya romance where a wealthy girl falls for the town bad boy. It's a pretty typical YA bad boy romance. I enjoyed it but it didn't blow me away or surprise me at all. The charters were strong and likable for the the most part. It took me a while to warm up to Scarlet but I liked Elijah from the start. They had good chemistry but there was just something missing from this story. It's a good read but nothing new.

honestly, i'm not really sure what i was expecting from this book, but this was just not good. i mean, it was just super cliche, and it was just kind of a mess. and like the whole fighting part was kind of stupid, since it was just so much drama that wasn't even that good. but, i do wish we got to see some more of the romance, cause her and Eli were just a cute couple, even though they both were kind of boring. and Jack and Scarlett's romance was just so toxic and i mean, it was completely just lust and popularity. and i don't know how eli could just get with scarlett when she never stood up for him, and that kind of just rubbed me the wrong way.

The story starts out like a cliched movie filmed in any U.S. high school. Scarlet is a beautiful, smart girl finishing out her senior you in high school. She is dating the talented, rich, football quarterback. As the story progresses, Scarlet becomes friends with Elijah, the town bad-boy. While the entire novel is dripping with cliches and typical high school romance drama, there are some plot twists and touching family moments as Scarlet and her parents deal with the death of their son/brother, Max. Overall, a decent YA romance filled with family secrets, mystery, friendship, and love.

Thank you to NetGalley, Wattpad Books, and Liz Plum for an advanced eBook copy in exchange for my honest review.

This book really had the potential to be a great story told from the "It" girls perspective. You know, the one who stands by and let's her jock boyfriend bully people without stopping them, because he's "different with her". Unfortunately it just fell, flat. On its face.
The author mostly just told us things instead of showing us things by letting the reader experience it through action and dialog. I don't need to be told the relationship was perfect or that she's faking happiness for her parents. Show me.

I wanted to like this book, but unfortunately I just couldn't get into it.

I received an E-ARC of Fight for Her by Liz Plum from Wattpad Books through Netgalley in exchange for a review. The following review is based only on my thoughts and is completely honest.

Rating ~ 4 / 5 stars

This is a typical high school bad boy, good girl romance but with a huge twist. Scarlet life is perfect. She's dating the school's star quarterback, is going to one day inherit her parent's successful auto repair company, and everyone adores her. However, her life isn't as perfect on the inside because every day she is struggling to move forward after learning about the death of her brother. Elijah, the school's bad boy, isn't someone anyone wants to be with at all. But maybe Elijah will be the one who helps Scarlet glue her life back together. That is if they are able to survive what's thrown at them after Scarlet learns the truth about her brother's death.

At first glance, I thought that this story will be the exact same as any other high school-based books with the good girl falling for the bad boy but I was so wrong. All of these characters feel so real and genuine that I still can't believe that they're the only characters in a book. Even though Scarlet has the money to buy what she wants when she wants to, she doesn't do that at all. Instead, she works at her dad's auto shop to earn money so she can buy a car for herself and she works hard in school for her grades when she could just bribe her teachers for the grades she wants like how the rest of the students do. Scarlet isn't a damsel in distress waiting for Prince Charming to save her. She is her own Prince Charming which is exceptional. Elijah is such an incredible character in this book because from the moment, he was introduced to us as the "school's freak", I could instantly tell that Elijah is more than what the rumors were saying and I was right. Elijah is everything that someone should be - protective but not overbearing, caring, respectful, kind, and much more. He has his own stuff to handle outside of school but I really loved it when Elijah was always there for Scarlet when she needed a partner.

These two characters made this story so interesting but so did the plot. With the reveal that Elijah is part of an underground fight club, the story picks up to a place where I couldn't put this book down at all. There were so many twists and turns that only made this book even more magnificent. Liz Plum is such an incredible author because she turned this innocent plotline and incorporated in some very powerful themes.

All in all, I truly enjoyed this book and I can not wait for more novels by Liz Plum because this debut guarantees that her future works will be thrilling!

(review to be posted on Goodreads and other retail websites closer to publication date)

wow i loved this book!! it made me cry 3 times which makes it amazing in my book. i loved our main characters. everything was just amazing. it was definitely something i will want to reread.

Disclaimer: I got this ARC in exchange for an honest review from @NetGalley.

I couldn't stand Jack and Scarlet. She just stood there while her boyfriend was unnecessarily cruel to Elijah. The mystery with Max was intriguing, but this book wasn't for me. Elijah was the best character in this book because he didn't care what others thought of him.

Full review on Goodreads. I forced myself to finish this. The main character wasn’t likable, and the story wasn’t realistic. The dialogue was very dull, and the love interests felt forced and juvenile. I was not a fan. I think I could dig something out of my parents’ attic that I wrote in MS that could hold up to this one. Ugh Sorry.

Starting off my new year with this book turned out to be a great idea! I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed this fun, quick read.

I found the main character, Scarlet, to be enjoyable and relatable. She wasn't the type to sit back and wait for a guy to rescue her, but rather takes matters into her own hands in all aspects of her life. I found her rambling cute, and her manner of speaking true to her age. I also really loved that she worked and saved her money to buy her own things rather than wait for handouts from her parents. And the same goes for school - she worked hard to achieve high grades, didn't buy her way to the top. It made her character that much more enjoyable to read. Her character grew throughout the book and her experiences only made her stronger.

Scarlet's boyfriend Jack on the other hand, was frustrating as heck. I mean, what a jerk!! Acts one way in front of his friends and another way when he's alone with Scarlet. I did not like him - but then again, I wasn't really supposed to like him so that is a testament to the great writing style of this young author!

As for Elijah Black... yum. My family always looks at me like I'm crazy when I say a character from a book is hot but... all you bookish people out there know exactly what I mean. Elijah was strong yet vulnerable, protective yet not overbearing. He was the perfect combination of all the best traits in a guy! I loved how he was with Scarlet and rooted for them the whole time!

As for the story itself, I thought it had a great plot! A little bit cheesy closer to the end, but great nonetheless. There were new twists and turns that kept popping up right to the very end. What I expected to be a basic cliche love story turned into so much more!

I will definitely be keeping my eye out for what Liz Plum comes out with next.

At first I thought it was going to be a cliche romance with a jock whom I did not like. But then Eli showed up and I really enjoyed his relationship with Scarlet. There are some twists I did not see coming which I liked. A very good romance and young adult novel. It reminded me of The QB Bad Boy and Chemical Hearts combined.

Ohhhh, I love Liz Plum's Fight For Her.

Scarlet and Elijah's romance is messy and crazy.

At first this seems like a typical high school romance. Characters with real life problems and extreme levels of bullying. But then ---

Honestly, the turns this one takes left me with a love/hate response. Overall, I love the way the story is all consuming, serious, and their love is desperate. But, it doesn't read honest for a high school tale. The writing, the characters, the seriousness, seem like way more than the typical teen tale. The characters talk like they are much older than they are.

But, I was still consumed throughout and enjoy all the twists and turns. There's a tremendous amount of layers to this story. Which again, I enjoy, but it didn't seem that it would be this way at the beginning.

I am not sure who to recommend this one to. I want to say anyone who wants a messy, nothing is as it seems young adult romance. But it definitely isn't the typical YA read.