The Girl Who Would Be King by Kelly Thompson

The Girl Who Would Be King
Synopsis:

A novel about two teenage girls with superpowers and radically different agendas, destined for a collision that will rock the world.

Separated by thousands of miles, two young women are about to realize their extraordinary powers which will bind their lives together in ways they can't begin to understand.

Protecting others. Maintaining order. Being good. These are all important things for Bonnie Braverman, even if she doesn't understand why. Confined to a group home since she survived the car accident that killed both her parents, Bonnie has lived her life until now in self-imposed isolation and silence; but when an opportunity presents itself to help another girl in need, Bonnie has to decide whether to actually use the power she has long suspected she has. Power that frightens her.

Across the country, Lola LeFever is inheriting her own power by sending her mother over a cliff...literally. For Lola the only thing that matters is power; getting it, taking it, and eliminating anyone who would get in the way of her pursuit of it. With her mother dead and nothing to hold her back from the world any longer, Lola sets off to test her own powers on anyone unfortunate enough to cross her. And Lola's not afraid of anything.

One girl driven to rescue, save, and heal; the other driven to punish, destroy, and kill.

And now they're about to meet.

Review:

*This review will contain spoilers especially about the very end*

This book was interesting. Like I thought the idea of the story was interesting, but the execution put me to sleep for the first 70% or so. I thought the idea of one girl who is good, one who is evil, and both kind of know that is just the way they are and they can't really change it. It is written in them to be that way. Lola at one point comments when she is happy how it is odd and doesn't feel right, and there is something wrong with her if she shouldn't be able to be happy. Things like that made it a really interesting story, but the way it was written just didn't work. I have read that it is like a graphic novel but in prose and once I saw that I thought yes if this were a graphic novel I would have liked it so much more. The writing just didn't work for it. 

What else? Well I really enjoyed Lola. I liked how she was just like kill everyone and who cares. I liked how she never had a conscience, though she couldn't kill Adrian because she loved him. Even though she went crazy and is not very smart, she knows she doesn't have the brains to be a great criminal overlord and does something about it. She just needs to learn to control her temper some so she doesn't do things that make her go even crazier, but it was fun reading how crazy she went. The last 30% of the book was better than the first 70%. Partly because I loved Lola in that part. 

Bonnie was the good one, and she falls for Clark but handles that all really poorly. I mean when he sees her on the train she is just like sorry I can't tell you anything I am leaving now. Why? Why not just tell him what is going on and if he rejects you then...so what you are leaving anyway? I don't know. It was odd. I did like how she has the overwhelming need to help people in distress. Not just that she is good, it is like she has to do good. I just found it interesting that the two girls were very definite opposites. 

So even though the writing wasn't that good I did eventually get into the story more. I was kind of on the line 3 stars, good but nothing special for most of the book. Well right up until the epilogue, and then since my husband happens to be home today I went off on a rant to him about how horrible the end is! So Lola and Bonnie fight it out to the death, Bonnie killing Lola finally and so then Bonnie gets all the power! Plus she is pregnant so baby will have all the power, good and evil, and will have to deal with that. Cool. I kind of liked the idea of having one person with both sides and honestly would have picked up a second book if that were the premise - Bonnie's baby and how she deals with it. But no, the stupid epilogue shows Bonnie has twins - one will be good, one will be evil. Really? So nothing changes? That is it? It is pointless to do anything, because you cannot really do anything. So lame. I mean I want the option at least left open to change. Otherwise why both? So you could just continue the cycle again and again and again forever and you can't do anything about it? Soooo lame! Really if it wouldn't have had an epilogue I would have liked the book so much more. But because of that stupid stupid ending my rating dropped way down. Ugh, I hate when authors do that - end books in a horrible way. I just can't get over it - why did I read this story if it is just to show me how nothing can change?!? I wasted way too much of my time on it. 

Rating: ★1/2